


Not one of those who can easily hide

by Ferosorio



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Family Feels, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Major Character Injury, Past Steve McGarrett/Catherine Rollins, mentios of therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 62,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26162692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ferosorio/pseuds/Ferosorio
Summary: Did Steve think Rachel was capable of hurting Danny? Emotionally? All of the time. Physically? No. Not at all.  He knew his partner and his partner’s ex-wife had had their differences, but he never imagined she’d be arrested for assault. And everything that happened after that? Also beyond imagining.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 64
Kudos: 282
Collections: H50 Big Bang 2020





	Not one of those who can easily hide

**Author's Note:**

> This work is for the H50 2020 Big Bang. It was a pleasure writing it, I had a lot of fun. I want to thank everyone who is in the administration of the bang, you guys rock! Also I want to thank Arandin for the amazing art they made for my story. I know it was a tiresome time for the both of us but you managed to make something so beautiful! I'm forever thankful for your work. 
> 
> I also want to give a huge shoutout to Pheobe who betaed my story, I can't thank you enough for your work and patience with my lack of english knowledge. And of course thanks to Amy who helped me when the work wasn't even done, you're the best! 
> 
> Last but not least, I'm really thankful for the community at the 5-0 server in discord. This times are really hard but thank to you guys I have a little pocket of happiness every day. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about medicine, so everything about Danny’s condition is made up to fit the story. I also don’t know anything about US law or the foster care system, so i’m making it up with my knowledge of Chilean law and foster care, along with support from my imagination. Likewise, I’m no therapist either, although I am related to one. Joanie and Charlie’s hug was inspired by this amazing hug between two little friends (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIZ8l5XeQ3k). Also I want to highlight that english is not my first language so every mistake is mine, even if this story is beta'ed, there's things that my chilean self can't control. 
> 
> There's also a playlist I created while I was writting this fic, if you want to listen to it:   
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ZjdrFrXRFLPbDgmg76KIc?si=w9bnEtNWQpCy8RAR7vnnwA 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Part I**

* * *

Everywhere he goes, Steve keeps hearing that goddamn Elton John song.

He doesn’t want to think about the first time he heard it, not at all. The second time he heard it, the first in almost twenty years, he was driving home and Steve nearly crashed the car. Instead of freaking out -or while he was in the middle of freaking out, if he was going to be honest- he drove to Pearl Base to schedule an appointment with a shrink. He couldn’t take it anymore. 

That was two months ago. 

_ Has it helped? _ Maybe, Steve doesn’t know for sure.  _ Is he doing better? _ Yes, totally. And that’s why he keeps going every week, Thursday at five. Just like today. He keeps his schedule clear, follows up with most of his paperwork, delegates every other thing and leaves an hour early, every week. 

He’s feeling happy, he has an update to Dr. Hapai about  _ his progress _ . Halfway to the consultation he feels ridiculous, that happy feeling evaporating into thin air. He’s a second away from calling Dr. Hapai’s receptionist and rescheduling his session but the red light changes to green and he needs both hands to drive. 

There’s a reason why he decided he needed help in the first place. It ended up being meaningful enough that Steve was willing to do what he hated the most: talk about his feelings and fears. 

It’s not because of the song. Ok, the song sure as hell triggers his fight-or-flight reflex. But that’s not the main reason. The main reason has a first name and a last name: Danny Williams. Because when the Englishman sings,  _ “ _ _ How wonderful life is while you're in the world,” _ he remembers things he really wants to forget, including Danny and his smile. It happens so quickly that Steve inevitably loses it, every fucking time.

And now it's almost ten p.m, and Steve should be in bed if he wants to be up at six to swim and be on time for work, but he can’t stop thinking about… everything. About today’s session, about the reason why he was there in the first place. 

When he told Dr. Hapai what he thought was an improvement, the young woman was so happy and pleased with him that Steve felt that it actually  _ was  _ a good thing, a step in the right direction, instead of a stupid thing like his subconscious told him. 

“He kissed me, ” says Steve, and blushes. Dr. Hapai even laughs quietly. “I mean, a peck, on the head.”

“A kiss is a kiss, Steve.” 

Steve blushes harder. 

“We were working on closing a case. A really bad one. Persons trade, with underaged girls, as terrible as it gets. HPD and the palace was always surrounded by their parents, wanting to know about their girls. And we didn’t have answers. Not yet. But we found them, in a container, ready to be shipped like they were objects. Every single one of the girls reported missing, they were in really bad shape but they were alive. And watching them get reunited with their family? Priceless. After everything was settled...we were still in the field, and Danny hugs me out of nowhere, and kisses my temple, in front of all our teammates and HPD”

Steve blushes again and feels uncomfortable. And suddenly really warm. Does Dr. Hapai consult has the air on for real or just on minimum? 

“He said ‘ _ you did good, babe. Really nice work’  _ ...everyone was looking but no one was mad? Everyone was happy, some police officers even thought it was funny, or cute, I heard them. No one...cared. No one. So I thought that I shouldn't care either, ” says Steve, rearranging his posture.

“Is this normal behavior for Detective Williams? Being so open with his affections? Or his affections towards you?” Asks Dr. Hapai, her tone neutral, her stare fixed on Steve. 

“Yes. Normally, yes. But not with me. Or at least not anymore. Not after I told him...about  _ me _ , you know? And he got it, he understood. So he toned it down. Just pats on the back or things like that. No side hugs or praises like he does to anyone else that’s close to him. After I told him he was careful, respectful. But I...I didn’t feel bad when he did that today.” Steve is smiling, he knows he is, he can’t help it. 

Dr. Hapai nods, writes something on her pad, and looks up again. She asks softly:

“And how did you feel today? With the kiss?” 

“Happy. I felt...happy. I can of...sort of still feel it.”

Dr. Hapai was content with his reaction, she told him that it was, indeed, a step towards acceptance and to truly acknowledging that there wasn’t anything wrong with him. Steve felt like he won a million dollars, but then his therapist had given him a homework assignment, and all the fulfillment he felt drained out of him. He hated homework, especially from Dr. Hapai, because they usually meant he had to go outside his comfort zone. 

“You have to tell him,” said Dr. Hapai with her calm voice. “You have to find a moment in your day just for Danny and you, and you have to tell him how you felt with that way of affection.  If the goal you set at the beginning of our time together hasn't changed, then you have to do this step.  Besides...” Dr. Hapai smiles at him. “It’s always good when someone else tells you you did something nice. I bet Detective Williams would like a compliment, specially coming from you." 

Now Steve was stuck. 

He had one week to do his homework. He realized that therapy and college were kind of similar in the fact that if he arrives at his session without his homework done, no one would scold him. The only one who will lose something is himself. There would be no teacher to yell at him and give him detention. Just a non-committed shrug from the professor/therapist and one more childhood trauma that didn’t get addressed and tortured him for the rest of his life. Also, Steve knows that Dr. Hapai was doing him a favor, he didn’t want to push too much. 

“I don’t work with missions or physical end goals, Commander McGarrett, that’s not how it works.” She said the first time they had an appointment and he opened up about what he wanted. But after their first session she understood that’s the only way Steve's militarized mind could work.

So Steve is here, in his house, in his sweats and an old Navy t-shirt, enjoying a beer and watching a game while thinking about how he’s going to do his homework. Maybe he can invite Danny over for dinner, watch some “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” and cook something a little bit more fancy than take-out-chinese. Or they can have lunch together. He knows it’s been a long time since the both of them did that. Another option is to wait for Danny to just drop by his house, like normal, and then he’ll tell him. But that last option doesn't require Steve to do anything, so he isn’t really doing his homework. 

_ God, I’m so messed up _ , Steve thinks, caressing his temple. The fact that Danny has to deal with someone like him makes him feel so guilty, he wants to puke.

Steve knows he should stop thinking, and just drink his beer, go to bed and end the day. That line of thought is always dangerous, it always ends up bad. He sure as hell doesn’t want to have a repeat of the early nights after his first therapy sessions. He's way over that. He is. He’s better. He’s doing good.

And his thoughts are interrupted because he  _ hears _ something. 

Suddenly, from the TV... _ that goddamn song _ . He looks at the screen, they're in the commercial break, and some life insurance company is trying to sell their stuff, showing happy families with  _ Your Song _ in the background. This would be the third time he’s heard it, the second time in this house and-

His phone starts to ring. 

Steve is so thankful that he feels his whole body sag with relief. 

Then he’s in alert mode all over again, but for a different reason. His phone screen shows him a beautiful picture of Grace and him, smiling at the camera with the sun setting in the beach behind them, with the name “Gracie” in big white letters. She’s supposed to be sleeping right now, not calling him. 

“Grace?” He picks up, trying to sound calm and even. 

“Uncle Steve!” Grace shrieks, he can tell she’s crying, he can hear Charlie crying in the background. Steve is already at the door, putting on his boots with one hand, trying to balance the phone. 

“Please, p-p-please come pick us up. Danno’s hurt...he’s...U-uncle Steve, help!” She's full on crying now. 

“Tell me where you are, sweetheart. I’m in my truck,” he tells her. Steve doesn’t know how he got there so quickly, but he’s already backing the truck down the driveway.

“Mo-mo-mom’s,” Grace sobs. 

“I’m on my way. Stay calm, Grace, I’ll be there in a minute.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


The gates of Rachel’s house are open. When Steve pulls into the driveway he can feel all the blood drain from his face as he takes in the HPD cars and the ambulance. He’s startled to see Stan standing outside of the house, hugging Charlie and Grace. 

He parks as close as he can. No one asks what he’s doing here, the officers just nod at him and let him get closer. The moment Grace sees him, she’s jumping out of Stan’s arms and launching herself to him. 

“Uncle Steve!” She cries, so sad and broken, that Steve feels his heart shatter. He hugs her close to his chest, caressing her back and murmuring soft, comforting things. 

Stan gets closer to him. The man looks awful. Something bad happened; something really, really bad. Steve wants to ask what the hell happened, but he feels mute at the mere thought of something happening to Danny. He doesn’t want to guess or even try to think about anything bad happening to his partner. 

“Commander. This is… I need a huge favor,” says Stan. He’s usually really calm and collected, but now Steve can see how pale he is, and he can tell he’s holding back tears. “It seems that I’ll have to go to the station to give a statement. We don’t know how long that will take. Can you stay with Charlie and Grace until everything is sorted out?”

Steve has so many questions.  _ What the hell is going on? Why are the kids crying? Is Danny ok? Where’s Danny? Why is Grace crying about her Danno? What the actual fuck? _ And so on. But he can’t speak. So he just nods at Stan, hugging Grace tighter, kissing her head. She’s still crying but now she’s quiet. Charlie seems to have fallen asleep. Stan nods back and moves to his car to take the kid’s seat from the backseat and then installing it in Steve’s truck, placing Charlie carefully in it once it’s on. 

He still doesn’t know what is happening. The only thing he knows is that he’s keeping Grace and Charlie safe. 

It might be minutes or hours, but there’s a little commotion at the entry, and then they are taking someone in a gurney to the ambulance.

Steve’s heart stutters. 

_ Danny. _

He’s unconscious and covered in blood. The paramedics don’t seem in a hurry, so Steve has to imagine they’ve already stabilized him, or maybe Steve is seeing everything in slow motion due to stress. 

Steve makes sure that Grace is looking to the other side when they charge Danny inside, and shushes her when the noise starts. As quick as they arrive, they leave in the ambulance, siren blaring and lights flashing.

_ Something happened to Danny. _ Somehow, someway, he ended up injured in the Edwards’ house, and the kids saw that, that’s why they are freaking out, and that’s why Stan has to give his statement. That’s easy to infer. But...the rest? He has no idea. 

A minute later, Pua is escorting Rachel out of the house. Rachel is a mess, she’s crying, her face is streaked with black tear stains from her smudged makeup, her clothes are filthy with blood, and she’s  _ handcuffed. _

_ What the hell, what the hell, what the hell,  _ Steve repeats in his head. He pushes Grace’s face against his neck. He really doesn’t want her to see that either. 

He makes sure Charlie is still sound asleep in his carseat, before turning all his attention to Grace. He knows she’s thirteen, she’s not a little girl anymore, but right now, she feels eight years old all over again, searching for comfort and security in her uncle’s arms. There’s no way Steve’s not going to follow through. Grace could say “jump,” and Steve would only ask, “How high?” 

Pua opens the cruiser door and Rachel doesn’t protest, just gets inside. She looks at Steve, holding her daughter, and begins crying all over again, leaning her head against the headrest. Pua looks at Steve too, and nods, satisfied to see him. After that they leave.

Then Stan is there, kissing Grace’s temple, and touching Steve's shoulder, thanking him for taking care of the kids, but also looking at him with eyes that say “thanks for understanding". Steve doesn’t understand a thing, but he nods anyway. He barely notices when Stan drives away, following Rachel to the station. 

But that’s the problem. Steve doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. The only thing preventing him from making a fuss and using his rank and badge to know absolutely every small detail is the little girl curled up his arms. He watches CSI’s arrival at the scene, and Duke approaching. 

“Can you go stay with your brother for a little while, Gracie?” Steve murmurs. “I need to talk with Sergeant Lukela real quick and then it’s all over.”

Grace just nods against his shoulder. Steve opens the door and helps her climb in. She crawls closer to Charlie, and rests her head in her little brother’s lap. 

Steve can’t help but smile at them. 

Staying close to the car -he’s careful to note that every single window is down, and the driver’s door is still wide open- he goes to meet Duke. 

“Duke, can you explain to me what the hell happened?” He tries to keep his tone even, but he feels like he’s about to pull his hair out if no one tells him what is going on. 

Duke consults his notes. 

“We received two calls, a noise complaint and a call because of an incident, one made by a neighbor and another by Stanley Edwards, about an hour ago. Ms. Edwards and Detective Williams were discussing something. The discussion escalated, there was some shouting that alerted the neighbors. But then Ms. Edwards pushed Detective Williams and he lost his balance, falling against the glass door.” He grimaces. “The glass broke and he hit his head against the concrete. There were some big glass shards that punctured his body. The EMCs say that it was all bad luck, the way he fell made everything worse. When we came to the scene Ms. Edwards was applying pressure to one of the worst cuts and Mr. Edwards was on the phone following 9-1-1 instructions.” 

“Shit.” Steve closes his eyes and caresses his temples with the back of his hands. “How is he, Duke? How’s Danny?” 

“Not good, Steve.” Duke’s face is serious. “They managed to stabilize him sufficiently to transport him, the glass did a good deal of damage to his body. Punctured lung, probably a concussion.”

“Jesus. What about Rachel?”

“I’m not sure about that. We have to see how Detective Williams pulls through. You know how it is…”

Steve just nods. He doesn’t have the strength to deal with what was going on when he arrived. But it’s clearly way worse than anything he could have ever imagined. He knows Rachel and Danny have their differences, and that at some point they were talking through their lawyers, but everything seemed to settle after that. Things got complicated with Charlie and the treatment, but Steve would have never thought that Rachel was capable of hurting Danny, not like that. Emotionally she could be really harsh and cold, but physically? Never. And now Danny is dying because his ex pushed him through a glass door. 

“I’m glad you’re here, Steve. It saves time,” says Duke. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The kids. They don’t have any family on the island. The closest thing they have to a responsible adult is you. Mr. Edwards said that the kids could stay with you for tonight, and Ms. Edwards agreed.” 

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask, Duke. Grace has a room in my house, everything will be fine. Nothing will happen to them under my care. I swear.” Steve indicates the papers in Duke’s hands. “Do I need to sign anything?” 

“Yes, just a simple form for taking care of minors under extreme circumstances. But you have to be aware that… it might take longer than just a night, Commander.” Steve just raises one eyebrow, and Duke nods grimly. “As I said, these kids don’t have uncles or grandparents on the island. Their parents are in the middle of a tricky situation. It’s probable that Ms. Edwards will remain in custody until Detective Williams wakes up and they can process the charges. Since Mr. Edwards is not related to Grace Williams or Charlie Williams, and he’s going through a divorce process with the mother of the children, I can guarantee no social worker or judge will leave them with him.” Duke sighs. “In my experience, these kids have only two options: staying with the adult who signed the extreme circumstances custody until everything is resolved, and that could take months. Or...”

“Or what?” Steve presses. 

“Or going to Social Services and getting them in the system.” 

Steve thinks immediately about Nahele, the crappy foster care homes he ended up in. Of the misery of living under those circumstances. Of his empty eyes and broken heart. Of the amazing boy he was, even broken and beaten by the system. Of how hard Steve fought to find a good foster home for him, and still...

That couldn’t happen. He couldn’t let another kid suffer through that, and sure as hell not to Grace or Charlie. 

“Like I said, Duke. You don’t even have to ask.”

It's been ages since the McGarrett house hosted so many kids, but Steve feels satisfied knowing he has, safe under his roof, the most important people in Danny's life. And if Steve's being totally honest with himself, like he usually is after therapy, two of the most important people in the world to him, too.

He lets Grace and Charlie share a bed. Mary's old bedroom was inherited by Grace after Mary found a place to rent. After his talk with Duke, Steve is thinking about cleaning the old guest bedroom and his old childhood room, nearly untouched since he came back six years ago. He needs to be prepared, and his boy scout instincts are hard to ignore. But those are tomorrow's problems .

With the kids asleep, the house secured, all of his ohana informed, a strict working plan for the day so the kids don't get bored or think about the mess they lived the day before, and an incredible amount of online buying, Steve has no excuse not to think about Danny.

For the first time in what feels like forever, he cries with no shame. He just lets it happen. Tear after tear, quietly crying against his pillow because he is scared, he is so scared. Steve feels so helpless, he can't do anything but wait for Danny to pull through, to get better. He can't be there, he has more important things to do, like taking care of Grace and Charlie, but he can't help but want to be there, besides his partner, waiting. Danny is his partner, his best friend, his support, his… He can't lose him. If Danny is not there, it is like Steve is lost too.

Danny is part of the reason he's trying to get better.

Come to think of it, his partner is the reason for many of the things in his life. Half his liver, his new guitar, a little knee-pillow that lives permanently on the couch, little surfboards in his garage for Grace and Charlie, peppermint patties in the freezer and therapy. Especially therapy.

“Why are you really here, Steve?” Said Dr. Hapai on their first session.

“I already told you. I’m in love with a man. And I want to be able to be with him and not puke.” Steve remembers feeling exasperated.

“Is it really the only reason?”

“Say what you want to say, Doc.”

“I think you should find a more personal reason to want to ‘get better’ as you say. Something that has more to do with you than others.”

And he did. But it took time.

He wants to get better and heal because he deserves it, because he is worth it and Steve deserves good things. He can't be afraid of being who he really is. He can't live afraid of loving, or showing affection, or trusting because that's not healthy. And now he gets it, he truly does. But he also wants to heal because of Danny.

He wasn't stupid, it didn't matter what Danny says, because he understood their subtexts and caught immediately the fact that their relationship wasn't just platonic. He noticed when things started to shift between them. When Danny no longer bro-hugged him but full on embraced him, when he touched his back in a sweet caress and not a manly pat, the lack of personal space between them, the _looks_. Steve wanted it, wanted all that and more. But he was so fucked up that the moment any of them tried to do something about it he panicked (his blood pleasure to the roofs). Danny was amazing about it, as always. He said he understood that there was no pressure, that they had all the time in the world and they’ll see how they could work with it.

Obviously Steve fell harder and deeper for him, his love overwhelming but true. Denying he was in love with Danny is stupid at this point, but his problems, his issues are still a huge deal.

“I’ve always known how a man like me is supposed to behave.” Steve told Dr. Hapai in one of their sessions. “What a sailor is supposed to be, and who they are supposed to love. I think I liked Catherine at first because of that. Navy, smart, dedicated to her job…”

“A woman, ” added Dr. Hapai.

“A woman. Yes. But after that I really fell for her. I refuse to believe I’m not capable of loving for real. What I felt for her was genuine, maybe not at the beginning or...not consciously at the beginning, but it was true. She will always be one of my best friends.”

“Where does that leave Detective Williams?”

“Danny is not comparable. He’s in another category all by himself. Thanks to Danny, I understand the concept of ‘love makes you do dumb stuff’. Like wearing v necks because I know he likes to watch my chest, nearly crashing my car...or you know, come to therapy… With any other women I dated, even Catherine, I still could be all SEAL, rational, logical, cold minded...but...God, once I cried with Danny because Grace had an ear infection and felt so much pain she couldn’t sleep, she was so little and so in pain, we couldn’t handle it. Once I was so drunk because I couldn’t even hug Danny without feeling shame that I nearly got a tattoo with his and Grace’s name.”

“What about Charlie’s?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be telling me not to get drunk and tattooed again? You know I have a liver transplant”

“Hepatology is not my field of expertise. Nor dermatology. I know the basics from med school but I got into the brain really early on. So, why exclude Charlie?”

“He wasn’t born yet, or we didn’t know he was Danny’s yet. Can’t remember, it was too long ago.”

In hindsight, maybe he _did_ something stupid for Catherine: buying the ring. He did it because it was expected of him but also because he really wanted to get married. Steve really wanted to marry her, to stay with her, maybe have a family, to fill that need of domesticity he rarely admitted he wanted. It was selfish and stupid, but he did it anyway.

He doesn’t regret it.

After that he realized his feelings for Danny were undeniable, and he couldn’t hide under fake heterosexuality and fears his whole life. Catherine wanted to be needed, and Steve understood that so bad, because he wanted to be needed too, but by Danny. After the whole fiasco he returned the ring and with the money he took Nahele out for a nice meal and bought the boy some clothes.

Dr. Hapai also made him say what he wanted. It was rough at first but Steve ended up spilling.

“I want to be with him, take his hand, kiss him, make love to him. I want him to live with me, to build a family. But I want to do it feeling a hundred percent, I want to do whatever it takes to get to one hundred. I just don’t want the crippling fear of doing something wrong keeping us away. I don’t want to freak out. I don’t want to be thinking ‘I’m not gay, I’m not gay’ every five seconds. I want to be open about our love. I want to be proud. I don’t want to listen to my dad’s voice anymore.”

“What does he say?”

“ _Fags are disgusting. Steve, get a girlfriend_.”

“Do you want a girlfriend?”

“No.. I want a boyfriend, I want Danny to be that boyfriend. I want to sleep beside him, go out with him. I want to take all of them, Grace, Charlie and Danny to my SEALs reunion and introduce them as my family. Mine.”

“Is that all you want?”

“I want to love myself.” Steve declared, stunned. “I want to be happy with myself, however I am. And be able to love freely.”

Dr. Hapai nodded, she told Steve they were making progress.

Steve just wanted to be himself.

Dr. Hapai, her homeworks, the relaxation techniques, the S.O.S meds ( _just in case, Steve, accepting you have PTSD doesn’t make you less of anything),_ the self discovery helped him a great deal because now he can admit it without fear: Steve Jack McGarrett is in love with Daniel Williams. 

And now Danny is on the verge of dying. He knows Duke was more preoccupied with the crime aspect of the situation rather than the health of his partner, that was the EMTs job. _But, God_ , Steve is anxious to know what happened to Danny, exactly, with details and dates of recovery. The sun can’t come up soon enough and it seems that the night wants to stay longer than normal.

He just wants to go to the hospital to check on Danny, touch his skin, see for himself that he is all right. Duke promised to notify him immediately if something happened with Danny, the silence only means that Danny is stable.

Then Steve hears them.

Charlie and Grace are awake. Charlie is crying and Grace is trying to comfort him, shushing him because _Uncle Steve is asleep, Charlie, shhh_. Steve gets up and goes to their room, opening the door slowly.

“Can’t sleep?” He asks softly.

Both of them look at him with identical wet brown eyes. Then Charlie nods and hugs Grace closer to him, sitting in her lap.

“Had a nightmare, Uncle Steve,” mumbles Charlie. “Danno s’not here…”

Steve smiles sadly, and sits at the foot of the bed. “What do you do when you have a nightmare, Gracie?”

“Uhm…” Then Grace is crying too. _Crap, bad idea_.

“Let me guess, you slip into mom’s or dad’s bed, right?”

Both of them nod pitifully. Steve feels his heart clench.

“I have an idea. Let’s go to my room. My bed is bigger, and we can all sleep together. To be honest, I can’t sleep either, so I might need some cuddles, too. What do you say?”

Steve remembers all those times he shared a room with so many other sailors, crammed in like sardines. He swore to himself that he’d never share space like that again if he could help it. But life is funny, sometimes, because Steve is certain the best night of sleep he’s had since leaving the Navy, is curled up in a close cocoon with Grace and Charlie.

Steve wakes up, runs twenty minutes to warm up before his swim, then has a shower followed by coffee and still has time to make eggs with bacon in a smiley face for the kids before they wake up. It’s probably the smell of fried food that takes them out of bed.

He feels a small warm body hug his leg.

“Whatcha makin’, Uncle Steve?” Charlie mumbles. He’s wearing bumblebee pajamas.

“Eggs, bacon, toast and hot chocolate. Sounds good, buddy?” Steve slides the food onto a plate with care, making sure the smile stays intact

“Yeah!” Charlie sighs happily. “Can I watch cartoons?”

“Sure. Where’s your sister?”

"I'm here!" Yells Grace on her way into the kitchen. Judging from her wet hair, Steve assumes she’s already had a shower.

Charlie grabs his sister in a hug before leaving the kitchen, heading for the TV.

Steve hugs Grace with one arm. "You can sit down in the living room and I'll bring breakfast. Do you want hot chocolate, too?"

"Whatever.” Her eyes are big as she gazes up at him. “Hey, Uncle Steve… do you have any news on Danno?"

“He’s at the hospital, stable, but he’s not awake yet. I’m going to go check up on him in a little while. Kono will stay with you while I’m gone. And the moment I know he’s all right for visits, I’ll come pick you up, okay?”

Grace nods, her shoulders tense and her face in a sad frown. Steve wishes he could make that frown disappear, to give her joy and happiness and no bad news. But he’s not about to lie to Grace and tell her her dad is all right and awake. That doesn’t mean he’s going to tell her all the gory details. Steve wishes people had been more honest with him when he was younger, and he’s going to do what he thinks is best, which is try to answer all her questions with all the honesty and care he can manage.

“What about mom?” This time Grace sounds unsure, like she doesn’t really want to ask, but needs to know anyway.

“Well…” He sets the spatula in the stove and leans down on the counter to look her in the eye. ”She spent the night in the station. She had to give her testimony." Grace's frown deepens. "That’s an explanation of what she saw. So did Stan. Last thing I knew she was waiting for a hearing.”

She bites her lip, looking much younger than thirteen. “Is she going to prison? What do you think is going to happen?”

“I don’t know, Gracie. At least not right now. Probably the judge will schedule a court date, and the police will conduct an investigation. In the meantime your mom will probably be allowed to pay her bail. I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen. Also, they are waiting for your dad to wake up and see what he has to say.”

Grace nods. “What’s going to happen to us?”

Steve tugs her close to him and hugs her, caressing her hair.

“Look, Gracie. I know everything is kind of a mess right now. But I can promise you that I won’t let anything happen to you or Charlie. I promise you I’ll keep you safe. You’re not alone. We’re in this together, even after Danno gets better. Ok? We’re ohana.”

“Yes, Uncle Steve,” she mumbles, hugging him again. “Ohana.”

While Steve is washing the dishes, Kono and Chin arrive. She looks at him with questioning eyes, but he just shakes his head. Grace seems happy to see her and curls up around her on the couch. Chin looks at him and puts his hand on Steve’s shoulder, in silent support.

They chat a little bit, but Steve is itching to leave, and after five minutes he makes sure the kids are all right and that the cousins have everything under control.

The first stop Steve makes is the hospital.

The nurses recognize him immediately; Steve can’t help but think at least something good comes from spending so much time in the ER. Dr. Bufano, a tall man with wide shoulders greets him by the nurse’s station. Maybe in another lifetime he could have been a soldier. Steve recognizes him, but he doesn’t quite remember the context.

“You must be here because of Detective Williams, right?” Dr. Bufano asks.

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re in luck, Commander. I wasn’t in the ER last night, but my wife was the doctor who attended Detective Williams.”

Steve nods.

“How is he?”

“Well...a serious concussion, for starters. Broken collarbone, punctured lung, many lacerations because of the glass into his sides and legs, blood loss.” The doctor lists, looking at the folder in his hands. “He has a big gash on his back from where the glass entered his body and damaged the lung, and we still fear it might get infected and that can clash with the medication he’s taking for his high blood pressure. The x-rays we did to see if there was any shard of glass left showed that he fell on his knee pretty hard. It’s not broken, but it’s really swollen, so we can’t tell if his old ACL wound is causing problems; my wife thinks he’ll probably need physical therapy. The good news is we can stay optimistic."

Steve stays quiet a few seconds, repeating all of Danny’s injuries in his mind, trying not to imagine the pain his partner must have felt. He gives the doctor a blank look. “What do you mean, optimistic? He’s a mess.”

Dr. Bufano smiles at him. “You Five-0’s are really thick guys, so I’ll keep this simple. Everything is fixable. The broken collarbone was a clean break, the punctured lung wasn’t as big as we thought, and he’s reacting really well to treatment. There’s a high change his knee will act up, but Detective Williams is used with the recovery process. Looking at his reaction to the treatment is safe to say he’ll be able to fight off the infection. We have to wait for him to wake up and see if he has any memory loss, but with all the progress he’s already making I’m certain he’ll be in the right track to a full recovery. It might take a while, but after a few months, I expect him to be back on track.”

_Oh,_ Steve thinks, _is that all._ But he only says, “Thank you, doctor. Is there anything we can do for him?”

“We’re always looking for blood donors," The Doctor says. “When visits start you should go talk to him. His heart rate is weirdly elevated for someone who’s unconscious.” The doctor chuckles. “Honestly, if there’s someone who could still be anxious in a coma, it’d be Detective Williams. If there’s anything you can do to help him relax, that would only speed things up."

“Thank you again. Can I see him? Can his kids come visit?”

“You, yes. The kids might have to wait until he’s out of ICU. Look, I know you guys think your badge is like a visit-hours blocker, but is not, ok? From nine to two, from five to nine. The patient needs to rest.” He jabs his index finger at Steve. “Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Steve agrees.

Steve knows it’s still too early for visits, but he tries to get in anyways, he _needs_ to see Danny, just for a few minutes. But the nurses and security don’t share his feelings, and he ends being shooed away.

He checks his phone. There’s a text from Kono saying the kids are alright, and one missed call from Duke. Steve heads outside to the food truck for another coffee and an oatmeal cookie. He can just hear Danny mocking him: _What, you think the oatmeal’s gonna make it healthy or something? Go for the chocolate chip, idiot._ The thought makes him stupidly weepy, and he rubs his eyes with the back of his hand before calling Duke.

“Ms. Edwards’ morning hearing just ended,” he reports. “She paid bail and has to wait a month for the court date. She’s being charged for attempted murder and child endangerment. She’s not going to be allowed to see the children until the social worker delivers their report. After hearing what’s in Detective Williams’ will, she agreed to leave the children in your care until the report is done.”

Duke sounds remarkably fresh and rested for someone who just got off the night shift.

“Thank you so much,” Steve says fervently. “You were right, and I’m glad I signed those papers. The kids really need some familiar faces after everything that happened...wait a minute. What do you mean by _Danny’s will?”_

“You didn’t know?” Duke sounds honestly surprised. “He stated that if something happened to him...wait, I have it here: something that prevents him from caring for his children temporarily or permanently, Lieutenant Commander Steve J. McGarrett is to be granted immediate custody of Grace Danielle and Charles Stefan, until both are above the age of 21 or have economic independence."

Steve realizes he’s letting the coffee dribble on the ground. He grips the cup more firmly, his hand trembling. “I… no, I didn’t know that."

“Well, now you know. He even has a fund for them, just in case, with your name on it. Ms. Edwards was surprised, but she didn’t oppose, said she shared her ex-husband’s opinion that you were the best option. The judge complied. You’ll have a visit from the social worker soon.”

Steve rubs his sweaty brow. “Everything will be fine. Thank you, Duke, I owe you.”

“Don’t mention it, Commander. See you soon.”

No doubt about it, Steve knows it's a horrible situation. Danny is still in the hospital. Rachel might still end up in jail. But all Steve can feel is a warm glow in his heart as he thinks : _Danny thought I was the best option._ It’s both terrifying and thrilling to know Danny trusts him so much that he chooses to put his daughter and son under his care. Steve isn’t at all sure he agrees, but for the kids, he’ll try his best.

For shits and giggles, he orders an orange juice and a second cookie, a chocolate chip one this time. He has to admit it’s delicious. No wonder Danny likes them so much. Hell, he’d buy Danny a box full of them, just because.

Cookie notwithstanding, he has another call to make.

“Uncle Steve?” Answers Joanie’s sweet voice through the speaker.

“Hey, baby girl, what are you doing with your mom’s phone?” Steve’s already feeling worried. Of course his sister would leave her cell phone unattended with her three-year-old.

“Mommy said I could watch Peppa Pig with my milk,” she explains, Steve’s annoyance dissolves into affection. “Because I was a good girl, Uncle! I was! Miss Ana gave me a gold star because I was the best!” Miss Anna is Joan’s daycare teacher. All right, maybe he’d been a little quick to judge his sister.

He smiles.

“That you are, Joanie, you’re the best. Where’s your mom? I need to talk to her.”

“She’s in the kitchen. Wait… MOMMMYY! UNCLE STEVE NEEDS YOOUU!”

Steve moves the phone away from his face, his niece’s scream nearly breaking his ear. By the funny looks from two old ladies of the table next to him, they heard her too.

“Steve?” Now it was Mary’s voice.

“Quite the set of lungs for such a little girl, don’t you think, Mare?” Says Steve, laughing a little.

“Yeah, she’s so much like her uncle, it’s unbelievable.”

“Hey! Don’t mock your big brother. Look, something happened and I need your help."

“Are you all right?” Immediately Mary sounds worried.

“Yeah, I’m okay. But something happened to Danny. I’m gonna need your help.”

Just as Steve predicts, Rachel and Stan’s house has this weird vibe inside it. All is clean, but the furniture is not arranged how it used to be and there’s a black plastic in the place where the glass door was. He makes a quick trip upstairs to grab suitcases and bags. From Charlie’s room he takes as much clothing as he can; he has no idea how often four-year-old boys typically change their clothes, but if his own experience is a reasonable benchmark, it’s often. He fills another bag with all the toys and games he can fit inside, and a third with school supplies.

He calls Kono before continuing, asking her to come over to the Edwards’ house, and sighs loudly before getting into Grace’s room. He starts by packing her laptop and headphones, along with more school supplies. Just one look at her closet is enough to give him an anxiety attack, and in the end, Steve decides he’ll take all her clothes, just in case. He bags their toiletries last; Steve will buy new ones, but it’ll give him an idea what to purchase in the first place.

Kono is already outside, waiting for him.

“You’re not the one to do two trips, right?” Asks Kono while loading the bags in Steve’s truck.

“Two trips of loading are for civilians,” replies Steve with a straight face, making Kono laugh. “Ok, I’m going to stop at the hospital, and then I’ll be back home. Charlie’s painting kit is in the landing. Don’t let him know where it is. And Grace’s iPad is charging in my room.”

“All right, boss, I’ll make sure everyone follows the rules. Remember not to buy fried stuff for lunch. Chin promised the kids to make chimichangas for dinner, and Grace doesn’t want us to eat that much fat. And I’m with her.” She smiles. “I have to take care of my boys.”

“Mahalo, Kono."

“That’s what ohana’s for, brah. Keep us posted, ok?”

Steve nods, Kono and him swap keys, she climbs into his truck and leaves. Steve sighs again, getting inside the car and driving to the hospital again.

It’s one thing to hear a description of how Danny is, and another entirely different thing to see him.

Nearly every part of his body is connected to something that beeps or traces a line on a screen. Steve rests a shaking hand on his elevated knee. His face is so pale and covered with little cuts. He looks like he’s lost a fight against a giant cat.

“Oh, Danny. Oh, buddy, no…” He bends over, hovering close to his face. The heart monitor signals that Danny’s heart rate goes a little bit down, as though he can feel Steve’s breath. It's a relief.

“You have to pull through, partner,” he murmurs. “Gracie, Charlie, and me, we’re all waiting for you, ok?” Carefully he touches Danny’s hair, massaging his scalp a little bit. “They’re staying with me. Yesterday Charlie had a nightmare, and we ended up having a pajama party in my room. He’s so cute, and Gracie takes such good care of her little brother, Danny, you should see her, she’s such a grown up.”

He keeps the flow of words coming, along with his gentle touches, and the rhythm of the heart monitor continues to slow down.

“And today Joanie is coming over for lunch and dinner. Charlie is over the moon. You know how much the two of them love each other. You’re going to miss their hug, but don’t worry, I’ll record it for you."

Steve feels the lump in his throat, but there’s no way he’s going to let himself cry in front of Danny, awake or not. He tries to regulate his breathing and rests his forehead against Danny’s, careful not to dislodge any of the tubes or wires.

“C’mon, Danno,” he whispers. “Please wake up. We’ll go through this mess together. You and me. Like always. I… _shit_. I’m not good with… you know. But I’m getting there, ok? And when we get there together, Danny… God, I’m waiting for that moment so bad. So please, please, wake up, ok?”

He presses dry lips to Danny’s cheek. Anything more would have to wait for Danny to be awake. As much he needs to feel Danny wanting him to kiss him, and kissing back, he’s going to take his time.

It’s a relief to note that Danny’s heart beat is, at last, the one a sleeping person should have.

“I’ll bring the kids when you’re out of ICU. They really want to see you, but it will be quick, I know Charlie doesn’t like hospitals. Can’t blame him. And I’ll be back tomorrow morning, too.” He chuckles. “And the next day, and every day until you wake the fuck up, Danno.”

Everything is a mess. But, weirdly enough, Steve has faith.

When he arrives home, Mary’s car is already parked outside. He can hear the shrieks of the little ones playing from the front door. Kono is braiding some flowers into Grace's hair, while Chin plays some kind of game make-believe with stuffed animals with Joan and Charlie.

“Oh man, I missed their greeting!” Steve plops down on the couch besides the two girls.

“I recorded it for you,” replies Chin. Steve can’t help but smile.

Rachel is an administrator at a retirement home, the same one where Mary works as an aid, so both of them have their little kids in the same daycare that is close to their job. Joan and Charlie bonded almost instantly. When they were still very little they liked to nap together, to be in the same place for tummy time; they walked around the same time, delighting in each other’s first steps. Joanie’s first word, besides mom, “unc” (for Uncle Steve), and poop, was “Lee”, that’s what she called Charlie. Charlie was the same, and Rachel nearly freaked out because he said “Jojo” correctly before even pronouncing “daddy." They’re still inseparable. They can see each other all day, every day, and still cry when they say goodbye, and greet the next day with a hug so big and tight like they haven't seen each other in years. It never fails to be endearing.

Danny once said, “ _Just like you and me, babe,_ ” and Steve still remembers it with a warm feeling.

His butt starts to vibrate and he realizes he sat down on his phone. It’s an unknown number.

“Commander Steve McGarrett?” Asks a smooth female voice.

“Yes, Commander McGarrett speaking, who’s this?”

Chin watches him walk into the lanai with a sober nod. Even through a window and over the sound of children playing, Chin will doubtless be aware of what's going on.

“Good evening, sir. I’m Mahina Koalakoa, social worker from Ohau’s Family Court and representative from CPS. I’ve been assigned by the State to oversee the court case regarding two minors: Grace Williams and Charles Williams. They’re staying under your care because you are the closest relative to them, and because other legal documents validate you as a good temporary caretaker, is that right?”

Ah, Duke said something about this.

“Yes ma’am, that’s correct. I also signed the required papers so I think everything is in order.” Steve wonders if she can tell that his formal, businesslike “commander voice” is bullshit with regard to the kids. 

“Yes, Commander, for now. But these legal issues take time, especially when one of the parties is injured and the court is waiting on his development to change the charges, and the other part is being charged for child neglect.”

Steve feels a shiver of unease. “I understand.”

“I need to visit the children to make sure and report they are all right after the event, and also to perform an initial assessment of your home. After that, we will schedule a new meeting for formal evaluation and to discuss the future. Will today at four p.m work for you?”

“Absolutely, it works fine for me. Do you need my address?"

“We already have all the information we need. I’ll see you at four, Commander. Good day."

Steve clenches the phone against his palm, breathing hard for a few seconds. He knows everything is happening as expected. He just needs to wait and hope for the best. No one is taking his kids from him… that is, Danny’s kids.

“Mary!” He yells, opening the door. “We need to clean those rooms ASAP. They’re coming this afternoon for inspection.”

“Really?” Mary appears from the kitchen, drying her hands against her pants. “Well, then Chin and Kono are on lunch duty, because I can’t do both."

“The plan is still chicken salad?” Asks Chin.

“Yeah!” The kids reply at the same time.

“Ok, I’m on it. Go clean those rooms, McGarretts.” He smiles at them.

Steve and Mary look at each other, nodding and going upstairs silently.

When Steve moved back to the house, he used his parents’ old room. He knows his dad spent most of his widowed years in the room downstairs, in front of the downstairs bathroom, so the second floor was really unused. Most of the rooms are so musty, the air too stale for use. When he claimed the old master bedroom, Steve took everything old, including the mattress and put everything in his dad’s room, bought a new mattress and that was it. Today, however, Steve knows everything is about to change.

“What’s the plan, big man?” Asks Mary.

Steve leans in close and drops his voice, like he’s laying out a dangerous mission in the middle of the Korean jungle. “Open all the windows, take everything out, sort through things we want to keep, donate or to the trash. We’ll do that in all four rooms. Then we’ll mop the floors, clean the windows and bring the fans upstairs once the dust is gone. When the floors are drying we’ll buy the rest of the furniture online and I’ll go pick it up tomorrow, I already bought what I need for downstairs and the security tail for the stairs. The things we want to keep have to fit into those plastic boxes I bought for storage. If they don’t… then we need to prioritize everything again.” He gives her a sharp nod. “Any questions?”

Mary, unsuccessfully, tries not to smile.“Yes, actually. You said four rooms, are you planning on doing your bedroom again?”

“No, maybe later.” Steve hesitates, then says carefully, “I was talking about dad’s room downstairs.”

Mary just blinks. Then she grabs him in a hug.

“I thought you were going to keep that room closed all your life. You already know what you want to do with it, right?”

“Yeah…” He’s relieved by Mary’s reaction, hugging her lovingly. “I’m putting glass doors in the office, moving the office to dad’s room and I’ll make a reading and family room with no TV there. Also, I’m buying a bigger table for the dining room."

“That sounds so cool. Are you feeling alright? Look at you, spending so much money!” Mary jokes.

“Please.” He looks at his clock. It’s already eleven-thirty. “Let’s get started, Mer."

It took them nearly four hours to take everything out of all the rooms and deciding what furniture was staying and what was trash. Most of the native wood furniture was still good to use, but there was some things that belonged in a container. All the stuff that had to be thrown away was already in the dumpster, Kono and the kids were really eager to go there because Charlie wanted to see the big claw they had. They still had to decide what to keep and what to donate. Those things were inside the plastic boxes and cardboard ones in the first floor. At least everything was clean and was getting aired.

Four hours later, Steve stands in the middle of his dad’s old room. It was easier than he’d expected, putting his dad’s life in a few boxes, but the reality is that he feels relieved. His dad left him the house, and for the first time in six years, he’s finally taking responsibility. It was what his dad wanted, and it’s what Steve needs right now.

He feels a delicate hand on his arm, and turns to see Grace standing beside him in the empty room.

“It has a really nice view, Uncle Steve,” she says. “It’s going to be your office?”

“That’s what I thought,” he agrees. “You can study and do your homework here whenever you want.”

“Danno said this room made you sad.” Steve arches an eyebrow at her.“We weren’t supposed to come in here or ask about it.”

“Well…” Steve feels exposed. “Yeah, it’s true. But I think it would make me more sad not to use it. I’m thankful that my old man left me a place for myself, and I’m happy I can do what I want to it.”

“Like building the office and the reading room?” Grace hangs onto his arm.

Steve turns and hugs her with one arm, getting a little bit closer to the beautiful view through the window. “Yes, like that. But also making you and your brother a nice room. You don’t have to worry about anything."

“I can’t help it,” she mumbled. “I’m so worried, about Danno, about my mom, about what we’re going to say to Charlie. He’s so excited about his new room and the fact we’re going to see daddy in a while but I know he misses mom…” Her voice is low and confidential, and Steve feels a rush of appreciation for such a sign of confidence and trust.

“It’s natural to worry about your dad, but he’s going to be alright. I already told you what the doctor told me: he just has to wake up and the rest is nearly fixed. None of us know what will happen with your mom, but she’s safe, in her house, and after this weekend we will know more. I know you miss her but you’ll see her really soon.” He kneels down to look up into her eyes. “Now, I need your help to tell Charlie the truth in a way he can understand.”.

“But he’s so little!” Grace says.

“And he deserves to know the truth anyway. Lies always end up hurting people, so no lies.”

Steve can see the worry blended with compassion on her face.

“No lies?” Grace asks.

“No lies.” Steve confirms.

She takes a deep breath. “I don’t want to see my mom. She lied about Charlie, she lied to me, to step-Stan, to Danno. She hurt him so bad! He’s in the hospital because of her fault. I don’t want to see her!”.

“Like, ever again?” Steve asks.

After a moment, Grace deflates, sighing deeply. “No, not forever. I just don’t want to see her right now, and not for a while.”

“I understand, sweetheart.” Steve nods at her. “But now is not the time to think about that. OK? We’ll cross that bridge when the time's right. For now… I need help to buy more stuff online before the social worker arrives. Will you help me?”

Grace nods back, her eyes excited. It’ll be enough to distract her for the time being.

Mahina Koalakoa is wearing a tailored suit and shiny shoes, but her credential hangs around her neck on a woven lanyard, clearly made by a little kid.

“Before our interview starts” she tells Steve, “I have to state that his visitation is recorded by audio. Every question must be answered truthfully, otherwise it could be used against you or your relatives in court. With that said, I wish to see Grace and Charles Williams, please."

Steve nods and moves to the lanai, signaling her to follow him. In one of the chairs, with a hat, sunglasses, face white with sunscreen and headphones, Grace sits, immersed in her iPad. When she feels Steve's presence she takes off the headphones and sunglasses.

“Uncle Steve?” She asks innocently. Steve isn’t sure if her mellow, soft act is because she wants to make a good impression, or because she’s tired.

“Gracie, this is Mrs. Koalakoa, she’s here to check up on you.” Steve explains.

Grace and Mrs. Koalakoa shake hands. “Hello, Grace. Nice to meet you. Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions? They are really quick, I promise.”

“Can Uncle Steve stay?”

Steve feels his heart melt. Mrs. Koalakoa sits at the feet of Grace chair, not minding getting her cute skirt dirty with salt and sand. Steve just stands besides Gracie, so he can look at their guest directly.

“Of course, Grace. My first question is, actually, about Commander McGarrett, how long have you known each other?”

“Uhm…” Grace closes one eye, doing math in her head. “Six years, I think. I was eight, he was one of the first close friends my dad had after we moved to Hawaii. They have been working together for a few weeks and my dad took me to a football game to meet Uncle Steve, Auntie Kono and Uncle Chin.”

“That’s great, also, you already answered my second question: how did you meet him. So far so good, just a couple more. Since your dad and Commander McGarrett are friends, how many times have you stayed over and where?”

“Mhmm...I don’t know. Many times. The first couple times I slept with my dad in the guest room, me in the bed and my dad in a mattress on the floor, because I was a little bit scared. But after that I slept in the room Auntie Mary gave me, ” Grace answers.

“‘Auntie Mary’ is Mary-Ann McGarrett, right?”

“Yeah, Uncle Steve’s sister. She’s really cool. And Joanie is so funny and cute, she’s Charlie’s best friend.”

“Ok, Grace. Just one more question. Has there ever been something about Commander McGarrett himself or his house that scares you?” Mrs. Koalakoa’s tone is the same, but Steve can tell this question is different from the others.

“No, not anymore,” says Grace.

“How so?”

“Uhm, this is kind of ridiculous but...there was this old painting of a clown that a family member of Uncle Steve’s gifted to his dad. It was really old and I think it meant something for his dad. But I was really scared of it. It freaked me out. I remember I didn’t want to come over when I saw it. So he took it out and said that I shouldn’t be scared because this was my house too.” Grace is looking at her feet, a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry you had to get rid of it, Uncle Steve, I know it was a gift from Aunt Deb, ” She mumbles.

“Hey, sweetheart, no. It was just some old painting Aunt Deb gave to my dad as a prank. Do you remember she even told you that it was fine that we throw it away? That my dad only kept is a joke?”

Grace nods.

“Yeah, Gracie, don’t worry about that. I’m surprised you remember, it was so long ago.” Steve smiles at her, patting her shoulder, Grace smiles back.

“That’s really thoughtful, Commander. Ok, Grace. Those were all my questions. Thank you so much for your help. We can go back inside, Commander, ” she says.

They walk back to the house, Mrs. Koalakoa writing on her notepad really quickly. Steve doesn't want to pry but he is too preoccupied not to pay really close attention to every single move the other woman makes.

“Now, where’s Charles?” Mrs. Koalakoa asks.

“He’s sleeping.” Steve takes his phone out of his pocket and opens the home security cam app, showing her the transmission of his room, where Charlie is sleeping soundly besides Joanie, hugging his stuffed giraffe. In the recliner close to the window, Mary is reading in her kindle.

“He’s upstairs, in my room. He was really upset because he...well...Charlie misses his parents, and he doesn’t quite understand why he can’t see Ra- uhm... Mrs. and Mr. Edwards. We told him a child appropriate version of what happened and he calmed down a little bit, but he’s still sad. And tired.” Steve explains, pocketing his phone.

“I understand. Who’s the other child? And the woman?” Asks the social worker.

“She’s my sister, Mary. And the little girl is my niece. Charlie and her are best buddies. Charlie’s been in a better mood since she arrived."

Mrs. Koalakoa nods.

"Will you show me around, Commander?" She asks, and Steve nods. "We can skip the room where the kids are sleeping, of course."

He gives her a small tour of the house, saying he was recently remodeling some stuff and buying new furniture when everything happened, but that he had the receipts of the buys if she wants to check. She tells him that all his expenses and incomes are reviewed by other departments of the case. Steve feels a little paranoid, just a bit, but doesn’t say anything. Upstairs, when they go in front of his room, Mary waves at them and keeps reading. Finally they head back downstairs and sit in the living room, Mrs. Koalakoa back to the single seat and Steve sits in the small leather puff.

“Right. Commander. I have some questions for you. First, what’s your reason for signing the exceptional caretaker form?”

“My partner, Detective Danny Williams, was hurt and unable to take care of his kids. I knew it was my responsibility to take care of them in every way I could while their father couldn’t,” Steve answers, looking at her directly, using his Commander voice.

She writes something on her notepad. “Correct. After you got notified by the police you were a candidate to foster these two minors during this investigation, you agreed. That means that, a man with no children, who lives alone, suddenly decides to foster two underage children for the foreseeable future. Why?”

Steve sighs.

He could say so many things. Duty. Honor. Respect. Even patriotism. But he knows it isn’t the whole truth. And he’s been sharing his speech about being honest and always saying the truth all day, so he just goes for it.

“Because I love them like they’re my own. I’ve known Grace since she was eight, I’ve seen her grow and become an exceptional young lady. And the same with Charlie. I don’t have biological children, that’s right. But those kids have a place in my heart only a daughter or a son can have."

She nods again, and writes something down. “Commander, are you financially and emotionally capable of taking care of every need of two minors, including basic necessities, education, entertainment and emotional support?”

“One hundred percent, yes." He might be stingy with his money for himself, but he’ll spend it all on Grace and Charlie. He still feels weird jumping from such a deep question to something more mundane.

“Correct. Commander McGarrett, you’re the head of the Governor task force, what’s your schedule like?”

“Well...as the head of the task force my schedule is really flexible, not your normal nine to five, but that means I’ll have more time to be there for the kids." _Fuck_ , Steve thinks, this was a tricky question. He knows his work schedule was all messed up. But the paper of his contract doesn’t lie, so he’ll go with that.

“I understand,” says Mrs. Koalakoa. “But I also understand that your job is of high risk. Called at all hours, always available, chasing high profile criminals, in constant danger of being injured or killed in action. What’s your backup plan if you have this minors under your care?”

“My family. ” Steve didn’t have a real answer, he says the first thing that comes to his mind. “They always have my back and I have theirs. As you see, my sister is here to help me out with the kids on such a short notice. If something happens I can call her. Or other members of my ohana. They’ve been there for Danny and me when we have no one to watch the children."

She nods again.

“Last question, Commander, and we’ll be done with the interview. Are you willing to take a foster care course to be approved by the State of Hawaii to take care of minors in conditions as Grace and Charles Williams? Attending all the classes and approving all the certifications?”

“Yes, of course.”

“All right. Thank you, Commander McGarrett for your time. During next week, before the due date of the extraordinary custody ends, I’ll contact you and inform you of the next steps."

Mrs. Koalakoa takes her phone out of her blazer and turns off the recording. 

“Well, that’s done.” Even if her voice is the same, she sounds completely different, more relaxed and friendly. Steve blinks a few times, then frowns.

_What?_

“Commander McGarrett...look…”

“Please call me Steve," he says, feeling weird hearing his rank with that tone of voice.

“All right, Steve, you can call me Mahina. So...yeah. As I was saying. I love my job because I want all kids to have an amazing life. I hate the fact that there’s kids that are born to live misery, that’s not right. That’s why I’m doing this job. And these kids, Grace and Charlie? They love you, just as you love them. Something bad happened to them and they deserve a place with someone who loves them just like you. I’m on your team, all the way. They are both healthy, loved and smart kids. I’ll do everything I can so they stay with you. But you gotta help me too."

Steve can’t believe what is happening. He was half expecting to fail the evaluation and considered using his Navy contacts to get what he wanted. But the woman in front of him is on his side. Apparently, he did something right.

“Thank you so much,” Steve says, smiling at her for the first time. “And of course I’ll help. Whatever you need, Mahina, just tell me."

Sometimes Steve can’t believe how lucky he is.

“Well..It helps that Mr. Williams has stated legally that you’re to be the guardian of his children if the circumstances require it. It’s unexpected but if it’s for the greater good of the minors, then it’s really helpful. Also, you have records that show your work with a minor in the system: Nahele Huikala. The registry said that you used your Navy influence to speed up the process of him re-entering the foster program and finding a good home for him,” explains the woman.

“Oh, yes. Nahele. Amazing kid. Deserves way more than the luck he got. I wish I could do something more…” Steve says, feeling a knot in his stomach at the thought of Nahele.

“That’s my life motto, Steve. So. Next week I’m supposed to come and do a final evaluation. To see if you arranged the house to the kids needs. After that, I go to court, present the evidence and...if everything goes according to plan. The kids are yours until the case is over."

Steve nods, he’ll do everything it takes.

“So, for next week the kids room must be all operative. They have to be back at school, and with a working schedule. And you have to be, at least, signed up for the foster care course. Do you think you can make it?” Asks Mahina.

“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am”

After Mrs. Koalakoa left, Charlie woke up, and Steve spent nearly half an hour trying to explain to Charlie why he couldn’t see his dad yet.

Charlie, in company of Joan, followed Chin like little ducklings all afternoon. Grace just went straight to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. After a few hours of not seeing her, Steve decides to talk with her. He goes to her room and knocks, waiting for her soft “yes?” before entering.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He asks, sitting in her bed.

“I feel…” Grace starts to say, stopping to grunt in annoyance. “God, Uncle Steve. I’m so mad at my mom, but I feel like I shouldn't? But I just… I remember the yelling, and when I went down and saw Danno in the ground...all the blood. She was honestly sorry, I could tell she didn’t mean to do it, because she was trying to stop the bleeding and Stan was calling the police first thing. But it's just...so many things!” Grace starts to cry, but she keeps talking.

Steve can’t help but see how much she looks like his father. She’s clearly upset, crying and angry, but she still can talk coherently, gesturing. So furious but still caring about the small details, trying to be fair with everyone, but struggling with her own feelings. Steve bitterly remembers being a teenager. Maybe Grace didn’t have to deal with Rachel faking her own death, or being shipped away from everything she loves, but Steve’s teenage years weren’t that normal.

“So many things ‘she didn’t mean to do’ but that hurt a lot of people. First the Hawaii thing. Everyone thinks I was too little to understand or care but I understand! I care! I had to leave my friends, my family, and went from seeing my daddy every day to just the weekends! And then the Las Vegas thing, all over again. And then Charlie. And now this! And she nearly killed Danno. And all the things she didn’t mean to do but look, Danno is in the hospital and we don’t know if he will wake up. I...I know I shouldn’t but...but…” she’s crying harder now, her breathing in hiccups.

“But what, Gracie?” Asks Steve softly, touching her ankle.

“I hate her!” She screams, suddenly. Grace covers her mouth, like she can’t believe she said that. But then she’s crying all over again, and launches herself at Steve. He catches her, sitting her carefully in his lap and hugs her tightly, just like last night. “I hate her, I hate her, I hate her,” she mumbles in his chest while crying.

Steve remembers his own father… their fights, their disagreements, and then being sent to the mainland. He was a few years older than Grace, but a teenager nonetheless. Part of him wants to tell her that she shouldn’t hate her mother, that is just a fleeting feeling, that she’ll be sorry she was so mean to her, so harsh, that being an adult is complicated and that not all things are as they seem. But he also remembers being her age, the feeling that no one understands you, that everyone just stomps on your feelings like they don’t mean anything, like what you’re feeling is not real and just hormones. And it’s probably true, but that doesn’t make them less valid. What Grace is feeling right now is valid and true. And she has every right to feel them. Steve won’t be _that_ adult, he won’t be part of the reason Grace has to pay a significant amount of money to go to therapy when she’s almost forty. Well...Grace is not Steve, but he’s not taking any risks.

So Steve doesn’t say anything, just rubs her back and waits.

For Grace? He had all the time in the world.

Steve doesn’t know how much time passes, but he waits patiently for Grace to stop crying, soothing her and rocking her in his embrace. 

Eventually she calms down and wants to help Chin with dinner. Grace just smiles shyly at him and Steve knows that everything will be alright in due time.

Chin’s chimichangas are amazing, Steve plans to only have one, but he ends up eating three of them, topped with guacamole, tomatoes and sour cream. He skips the beer for now, drinking water, thinking that must help his caloric intake.When he rejects the offered beer, Kono just snorts, before putting another bottle of water in front of him. Lou and his family came over for dinner, too, so Grace is talking animatedly with Will and Samantha. Lou’s deep voice complimenting a blushing Chin fills the calm house. Charlie and Joanie are having a blast eating their chopped chimichangas, laughing and talking happily, sharing guac without a care in the world. Steve was in his second serving when Adam arrives with Jerry, Max and Sabrina.

It’s a beautiful evening, but Steve’s heart hurts. Because Danny’s missing.

He feels a little guilty. He should be ecstatic about having all his ohana together in his house. But he misses Danny so much he can’t shake the feeling off. Danny is his best friend, they spend so much together that his absence is unsettling. Danny’s such a big part of his life that he can’t pretend everything is normal. It’s not. Danny is not there and the emptiness makes Steve want to scream. He should be here, sitting besides Steve, worrying about Will and Grace sitting so close together. Ranting about mexican food being good but not better than italian, while stuffing his mouth full of everything on the table. Making fun of him for drinking water instead of beer, but also skipping the beer and drinking a coke himself so Steve doesn’t feel left out.

“Everything will be alright, boss. Don’t you worry,” says Kono, who’s sitting besides him. “Now it's hard, but you won’t even notice when we’ll have our next get together and Danny will be sitting by you. Annoying the hell out of you. Hang in there.” She pats his knee and smiles at him.

Steve feels seen, but also grateful by his friend. He realizes, dumbfoundedly, that he's not alone in this. Everyone in the table also misses Danny, granted not everyone is in love with him, but they are all his friends, too. They all work with Danny, spend time with him, are part of his family. They are all missing him. But they are here, to support Danny’s kids, to support Danny’s best friend...him.

“Thanks, Kono,” he replies, really meaning it.

That’s when he decided to go for the third chimichanga.

After that, everything just...settles. Chin comments he’ll come over tomorrow to help build everything Steve bought. Mary said she’ll pick up Charlie everyday after day care and stay with him until Steve was off work. Max said he can watch Grace and Charlie up on Thursdays, when Steve has his sessions, and help with Grace’s piano lessons until Steve is back home. Kono promised to come over next friday to surf with them. Lou said he’ll teach him where and how to shop groceries for a family instead of food for one, and Reneé promised to email him recipes. Jerry said he was open to babysit whenever, and that he could help with their homework.

Suddenly, Steve had the ‘schedule’ part of the plan ready.

On Sunday, Jerry arrives to stay with the kids while Steve goes to pick up everything he bought, he ends up calling Chin sooner because everything didn’t fit in his truck. He also meets with Lou to go grocery shopping because, apparently, he didn’t have enough food for the kids. After that they spent the whole day building, but that night Charlie slept in his own bed in his own room, while Grace lazed around in the reading room, reading some sci-fi stuff on her iPad.

Monday was the first day the kids were back to school. So Steve wakes up half an hour earlier than normal, does his exercises and gets ready for his first day as a foster parent. He knocks on Grace's door to wake her up, until she says “I’m up! I’m up!." After that he wakes Charlie, helping the boy to wash up and get ready, he was extremely sleepy and cuddly in the morning and Steve just wanted to nuzzle into him and spend the day lazing around, but maybe next weekend.

He makes cereal, milk and fresh orange juice for the both of them.

Then, following Grace’s instructions and Renee’s email, he prepares their lunches and snacks, putting them each in heavily decorated lunch boxes and double checking he put it in their backpacks.

Steve makes them brush their teeth and he also eats breakfast. Grace teaches him how to secure Charlie in his seat and then they were off to school, just in time, like Steve had planned. Grace gave him a kiss on the cheek before running to the door and being greeted by her friends, and Steve feels his heart soar. He drops Charlie off and waves at him until he couldn’t see the little boy anymore.

When he parks in front of the hospital Steve just...stops for awhile.

He thought everything would be overwhelming, taking care of not just one kid, but two. Having to do things he had never done in his life, checking up on them, preparing them lunch, making sure they had all their supplies. All seemed so complicated and stressful but today he felt...so content and happy by doing such mundane stuff like dropping the kids off to school.

He feels content.

His heart feels full and he finds himself extremely relaxed. Steve wasn’t naive enough to believe that everyday would be fantastic, he knows kids are complicated and they misbehave, like Charlie’s tantrum on saturday when he didn’t want to take a nap. But Steve feels weirdly optimistic.

He visits Danny for a few minutes, talks with the nurses to know if something has changed, then stays with him for a few minutes before leaving for work. When he sits down in his office, ready to call the Governor and start their weekly meeting, he realizes that maybe this kind of life is the one he always wanted.

Danny’s been in this situation so many times that he knows how to react and what to do to not hurt himself further. The first time it happened he was still a rookie in Newmark. First hospitalization after a bad case, and he tried to sit up. Needless to say, it was a stupid idea. Lucky for him, he kind of learns from his mistakes, most of the time. So this time, when he realizes he’s awakening after being unconscious for a long period of time, the first thing he does is try to relax and don’t open his eyes.

He breathes deeply, and finds it hurts and the weird taste and feeling of the ventilator stuck in his throat: fake air, not as good as the original stuff. His back is resting in the unmistakable hospital bed, and by the quality and feel of the sheets he knows he’s not in a shared room and that, by the feel of how used the sheets are, he’s been here for three or four days, give or take. So something really bad happened to him to have him in the ICU and to have him unconscious for a long while.

He slowly opens one of his eyes, getting used to the light, and when it doesn’t hurt anymore he opens both. He was right: ICU big room, a lot of machines and a cute nurse checking the multiple bags of the IV. He knows he can’t talk with that thing in his throat so he just makes a gurgling noise and the nurse is looking at him directly. He recognizes the nurse: Emma Kelly.

Really convenient.

“Welcome back, Detective Williams. Glad you joined the living,” she greets him.

She checks his vitals and helps him take the tube out of his mouth. She puts the nasal canula on him and secures it around his face. Then she leaves to bring a cup with ice chips. He’s still munching on them, enjoying their soothing feeling, when a doctor enters the room.

“Detective, I’m glad to see you awake. I’m Dr. Bufano,” she says, and looks down at the files in her hands. “How are you feeling?”

Danny takes a few seconds to assess that. His head hurts, but not a headache kind of pain, it’s deeper and it’s centered in the back of his head. His knee hurts like hell, too. And his back is really sensitive, he feels the sheets are too rough on it, and he knows he must be on some heavy duty pain killers because he’s not feeling _that_ bad. His face hurts and itches at the same time, his growing beard not helping.

“Could be better...I've had worst,” he answers, his voice raspy and he tells it takes a toll on his breathing, but he can talk.

“I bet. Can you tell me your full name, Detective?” She asks, looking at him.

“Daniel D. Williams.” He answers dutifully. He knows the drills by now.

“Do you have children?”

“Yes I do. Two. Grace and Charlie. Where are they?” Danny asks, knowing that they might be with their mom or Steve.

“They’ll come to visit you soon, Detective. They are in school.” Dr. Bufano replies. “Do you know what year is it?”

“2016”

“What’s the name of the president?”

“Barack Obama,” he replies, smiling at her, feeling small cuts stretch and sting. But fuck them, he’s an expressive man and no amount of cuts will change that.

“So far so good, Detective. Last question for you: Do you remember what happened?” Dr. Bufano leaves the file at the back of the bed and looks at him directly.

Danny hadn’t thought about that. He finds that it wasn’t that he didn’t remember, it's that he didn’t _want_ to remember. Because it was a mess. A fucked up mess. It also means the kids are with Steve. That was good, at least.

_Steve_ …

Instinctively he touched his cheek, feeling the ghost of a kiss and smiling. He had a question to answer before the doctor declared him coo-coo.

“My ex-wife…” he breathed, trying to center himself. “My ex-wife pushed me and I tripped, lost my balance...the door caught me...but it was made of glass so it broke and…” Danny stops, surprised at the memory of falling through the glass. That thing was really thick. _How did that happen?_."..and then something bad must have happened because I’m here. And it looks like I’ve been staying here for a while."

Dr. Bufano nods, giving him a sad smile.

“The bad news is that you remember correctly. That’s what happened. The good news is that you woke up and your mind seems in top condition, that was our major concern. We’ll do some tests just in case. But it is safe to say the worst has passed. Now you just have to heal. I’ll inform the police that you’re awake and also your emergency contact… let’s see who arrives first."

Danny snorts, it hurts but he does it anyway. There’s no question on who’ll be crashing at the door first. He just hopes there’s no shooting involved.

And also Danny wants his kiss while he’s awake this time.

Of course Steve arrives when the doctor is still with him. Nurse Kelly called his cousins the moment she could to tell them he was awake, and Steve drove to the hospital with the lights on so he could be there faster. Steve stumbles to the door and opens it quickly, looking at the doctor and at Danny a little out of breath.

“Good morning, Commander” Dr. Bufano says, looking at her watch. “At least you followed visitation hours, which is not something I said often."

Danny wants to laugh at Steve, but he’s too distracted looking at his handsome surprised face. _Why does Steve have to be so good looking?_ Danny thinks it’s unfair but well...he’s allowed to openly look, if Steve says something he’ll blame it on the new round of drugs that are starting to work on him, because he feels lighter and the pain is disappearing.

“How is he, Doc?” Steve asks. Entering the room.

“I’m right ‘ere, babe. You could ask me,” Danny pipes in, smiling at Steve.

“He’s doing all right, Commander. He’s on his way to recovery. Now, if you excuse me, I’ll leave you to continue your visit. Good morning.” Dr. Bufano nods at them and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

Steve comes closer, sitting in the chair close to his bed. He just looks at him, for long, long, silent minutes. Danny looks back, enjoying the closeness. Then, like he was gathering strength, Steve holds his hand, interlocking their fingers.

“I thought I lost you, Danno,” says Steve, voice full of emotion, eyes glacy. “I thought I lost you and I couldn’t do anything,” he ends up whispering. Tightening his hand.

“No, Steve, I’m right here. I’m all right,” replied Danny, taking their joined hands and, with a grunt, kissing Steve’s knuckles. “There’s nothing to worry about, I’m awake, a little of physical therapy and everything will be fine. Nothing new.” He assured. 

“I…” Steve began but stopped, looking at Danny with determined eyes, like he was in a dangerous mission. That look surprises him a bit, and also kind of arouse him, but it wasn’t the moment for that. “I love you, Danny” he said, and he didn’t say it like always, like friend say ‘I love you’ to each other, it was different, and it made Danny shiver.

“I’m in love with you, so much. And I was such a coward, so afraid of everything that you could have... God, Danny, you could have died not knowing that. So I promised to you that when you woke up I’ll tell you. I know I have a lot of issues but...I’m getting there, Danno, I promise. Just hang in there a little bit longer. We are in this together. I’m with you all the way."

“I love you, too, babe, I love you, too. Thank you, for telling me. Really.” Danny kisses their joined hands again, for good measure, making Steve blush. “I felt them, you know?”

“What? What are you talking about?” Asks Steve.

“Every time you kissed me when you came to see me,” and Steve blushes harder, red as a ripe tomato. Danny wants to kiss those red cheeks more than ever, but he contains himself. He knew they weren’t there yet. But Steve had come so far that his heart was bursting. “So you better kiss me goodbye while I’m awake, or I’ll be pissed."

“I’ll try to,” said Steve after a while.

That was good enough for Danny.

They talk for awhile. About what happened after the accident, what happened to Rachel, to Grace, to Charlie. What was going to happen now he was awake and the charges against Rachel. Steve explains everything. After a while he feels sleepy, and Steve notices because he says he has to go back to work or Kono will be pissed, that makes Danny laugh.

“Bring the kids in the afternoon, when I’m out of ICU, please. I need to see my babies.” Steve nods. “One question before you leave. Did Charlie try to eat my pee bag when you were visiting while I was down or did I dream that?”

To his surprise Steve laughs loudly, then, realizing the sound of his laugh, stops abruptly. Just to end up laughing softly.

“That happened a few years ago. When the that gang member from Ecuador tried to run you over with his truck? Grace was visiting with Rachel, and she had little Charlie with her.” Steve comments, still smiling. 

“Yeah, you’re right. He thought it was pineapple soda, and tried to bite the bag."

Danny was laughing now, it hurt his face, chest, lungs and throat, but it was way too funny and he had spent too much time sleeping. Also the drugs were making him more prone to laughing.

“Ok, I gotta leave. I’ll see you in the afternoon, yeah?”

“Yeah, all right,” Danny waves at him and snuggles to his bed.

When Steve gets closer to him, Danny thought his wish was granted, that Steve would kiss his cheek as a goodbye. He is so greedy for it, he even closes his eyes. But then Steve kisses him on the lips. Chaste, quick but oh so good. Danny feels every nerve ending on fire, his toes curling at the feeling of Steve’s luscious lips against his, so warm and plush. And he wants more, but he knows he can’t push him.

_God,_ thought Danny, _this is heaven_.

“I’m getting there, Danno, just hang tight, I promise.” Steve speaks, still so close Danny can feel his breath and the warmth of his face. Danny nods, trusting Steve’s every word.

Steve is still thinking about the kiss when he leaves.

While sitting in his car, back to the office, he’s still thinking about the kiss.

Sitting down in his office, he’s still thinking about the kiss.

While making coffee, he’s still thinking about the kiss.

When HPD calls them to inform them that they had a case related to the mafia, Steve is still thinking about the kiss, not that much, just a little, but doing it nonetheless.

While driving his own car with Lou, he’s thinking about the case and the kiss.

He finally stops thinking about the kiss when they show up at a house full of cut off fingers dangling off the ceiling. But when Max arrives at the scene to take pictures, he starts to think about the kiss again.

He kissed Danny.

He’s so fucking happy he wishes he had the balls to do it all over again. More than once. Deeper. Diertier. All the time. But Steve knows he can’t because people will…

And Steve stops himself.

What people might think won’t rule his life. It’s bullshit. And even if he just halfs believes that, he’ll repeat it until he believes it a hundred percent and can kiss Danny all over again.

Nobody can tell him anything about who to love, or how to act with the person he loves. And even if someone says something... _fuck them_ , because he just kissed Danny. And the kiss was so good he feels proud of himself.

He feels a kiss like that can change the world, but, even if that is true, life goes on.

The kids are ecstatic that their dad is awake and showing signs of getting better. They are even more happy when they tell them that, in two weeks, he can leave under constant supervision. Steve makes sure that both doctors Bufano know he’s personally taking care of Danny.

For his part, Steve takes care of Charlie and Grace, trying to be a provider but also spending time with them and having fun, reminding them that they’re loved. He still goes to therapy every thursday, and now he goes to foster classes every tuesday. He even follows some youtube channels to learn how to meal prep, how to freeze food and how to bulk buy. He goes to see Danny at the hospital every day, and makes sure to kiss him and tell him he loves him every chance he got. Once, a nurse caught them kissing, and Steve feels a pang of fear go through his body, an irrational fear that she can rat him to his dad. But he represses it and just ends the kiss slowly.

Dr. Hapai is proud of him when Steve tells her. 

The kids go to school, they do their homework, and Steve creates a chart of chores that everyone must follow, even the ones in babysit quality. Mrs. Koalakoa visits and tells them that the court accepted Steve to foster the kids while the case was litigated and during Danny’s recovery.

Steve is so happy he hugs her.

Charlie doesn’t like to tidy his toys, or getting showers, but Steve learns to put his foot down and Charlie learns that, sometimes, it was best to obey Uncle Steve when first asked. Grace doesn’t really like chemistry or spanish, but Jerry is surprisingly helpful with that. He was a highschool chemistry champion and spoke fluid spanish. No one knew that Jerry spoke spanish, both of his parents were latinos and they taught him (“ _But my dad speaks in his weird dialect, so don’t ask him to talk, please_ ”).

They had a small problem with Danny’s house because he was unconscious when rent was due, and no one remembered to pay for it. So the owner kicked him out and put his things in a storage unit.

Steve get notified because the owner filed a complaint against Danny. After paying him a visit and friendly making him drop the complaints showing him his badge and gun, he makes sure that all of Danny belongings are at his house. Danny rants for hours, but then accepts to live with Steve until he was better. For Steve, that was enough time to convince him to move with him.

All in all, life was good.

Grace even asks for ten dollars so she can go hang out with her friends at the milkshake place during their first week together. After promising she finished all her homework, to text at least twice and to call him when she wants to be picked up, Steve agrees. He drops her off watching happily when she hugs her friends.

With Charlie at Mary’s and Grace with her friends, Steve used his free time to work in his brand new office.

After that Grace seems more relaxed, like she realizes she can keep with her normal life. Grace spends more time with her friends, even inviting them over. Steve makes sure she keeps up with her schoolwork and assigns her a few chores, which she accepts with minimal grumbling. He is happy she feels comfortable.

And finally, after what felt like forever, Danny was ready to come home.

And finally after what felt like forever, Danny was ready to come home. Steve changed his whole schedule so he could pick up his best friend. Max and Mary helped Steve make sure the kids were there when Danny got home. It was all a big surprise.

Everything was perfect. All according to plan. He goes to pick up Danny, pushing his wheelchair to the entry where his truck waits for them. He helps Danny sit in the passenger seat and, because he’s feeling so good, he kisses him. The potential of their beautiful relationship shining in both of their eyes.

Everything is perfect. Until it isn’t. Because Mary calls him to say Grace was with a half naked boy in the house.

Grace lied.

She has her reasons! And now she is in a big mess. Maybe both of them are, but she surely is in big, big, trouble.

It all started the first time she was in Shakelakela Milks, a long time ago. That place had awesome milkshakes and fantastic food. She was having a blast with her friends when he saw him.

Grace has a soft spot for people in need, especially kids her age. And Hawaii has so many homeless people. Caring about them is in her DNA. But this boy is different. She recognizes the boy immediately.

“Do you know him?” Asks Paulette, when the two of them are alone after their other friends went to the restroom. She was Gracie’s closest friend.

“Yeah...he...he uhm...he stole my uncle’s car one time,” she replies.

“What!” Paulette exclaims, still speaking quietly. “Is he a dangerous criminal or something? Should we call the police?” She asks, really worried.

“No! No, nothing like that. His name is Nahele… or something like that. He was homeless and sold the parts of the car so he could buy food. His dad was in jail, his mom died of cancer. He was actually pretty nice. Uncle Steve and my dad took him under their wing. But I thought he was better now…” Grace trails off, looking at the oboy, who is talking to another man, who’s also dirty and wearing ragged clothes.

“He doesn’t look like he’s doing all right, Gracie,” says her friend, also looking at him, but now with different eyes. “At least not anymore, he looks hungry”. Grace just nods.

At that moment the waitress comes to bring their snacks and retrieve their empty milkshake glasses. At the same time a woman with a small child join the group of homeless people outside.

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?” Says Grace.

“Sure,” replies the waitress.

“Is there a special reason why there’s so many homeless people outside?” She asks, wincing, noticing it sounds kind of rude, but it was already too late.

“Oh. Usually we give them the food that doesn’t sell. They are waiting for the leftovers from breakfast hour. Then, when dinner time starts, we’ll give them the leftovers of the lunch hours, and tomorrow we’ll give them the ones from dinner hours. We have a no-waste policy and they really appreciate it. We also work with the pending-coffee or tea initiative.”

“That’s really cool!” Replies Grace.

“What’s a pending coffee?” Asks Paulette.

“You can pay for a coffee or a tea for someone who can’t buy it. So people who need it can come here and ask for it and have a nice cup of coffee, and it’s already paid. Usually the folks that are waiting outside came here again later for that.” The waitress explains.

“That’s awesome,” says Paulette, smiling.

After that Grace couldn’t quite take Nahele out of her head. When the rest of her group is leaving she stays behind, saying she is going to buy something to take back home. Paulette looks at her funny, but makes sure the others buy her lie.

Grace goes back to the restaurant and buys some bottled water. After that, she walks to the backside of the milkshake place and breathes in relief when she finds Nahele, eating out from a plastic container. Grace approaches him slowly, but gets a little embarrassed once she’s in front of Nahele. She clears her throat and he looks up.

“Uhm...you’re Nahele, right?”

“Yeah. And you’re Detective Williams daughter. What are you doing here?” He asks, pointing at the other people who are also quietly eating around them.

“I was out with some friends. What happened to you?” She said, forgetting all shyness.

“Just...life, I guess? I’m getting by.” Nahele evades the question.

“You’re homeless, and you’re eating thanks to charity. What happened? Aren’t you supposed to be in that foster home Uncle Steve found for you?”

Suddenly Nahele stops eating, puts the food on the ground and stands up, looking at her with anger in his eyes. But Grace stands her ground, not moving and still looking at him.

“That’s none of your business. You should leave. _Now_.” The boy says with authority, all anger and frustration.

“No.” Grace replies. She is a little nervous, but she isn’t leaving until she knows what’s going on. “What happened to you? Does Uncle Steve know you’re living on the streets?”

“No, and it will stay that way. Understood?”

“Yeah, sure. But first tell me what happened,” Grace insists.

“None of your damn business, Williams,” Nahele replies.

Grace buffs.

“That’s so unfair, just because I don’t know your last name…” And Nahele laughs at that, shaking his head.

“Just leave, ok? You keep your mouth shut and so do I. What are you doing here all by yourself?”

“None of your business,” she mocks him. Knowing her mom’s driver was waiting for her to call in five minutes. “Look, you don’t want to tell me and that’s fine. You don’t want to tell Steve, I don’t understand why, but ok. But...at least...I don’t know. Can I buy you something to eat later?” She offers.

“What?” Nahele looks at her like she had grown a second head. “I don’t need your pity, Williams. Just leave, and I won’t tell your daddy you were here all alone when you’re supposed to be chaperoned or something like that."

“That’s all right, c’mon. Let’s call him, and Uncle Steve, too. Let’s wait for them to come here, and we’ll talk."

Nahele looks at her, betrayed. He opens his mouth, and then shuts it. He shakes his head, sitting down again, but not picking up his food.

“Nahele, I’ll be alone in my house until nine today, you can come over, I can wash all your clothes, dry them, you can even take a shower. C’mon. I just want to help you,” she pleads.

The other boy didn’t say anything, just looks at his feet.

“Why?” He asks, and for the first time Grace feels she was talking with another teenager and not a broken adult.

“Because you need it. C’mon. We’ll drive there and then Uncle Simon will take you...wherever you need."

That’s how their friendship starts.

Grace makes him shower while she cleans all his clothes and then dumps them in the dryer. She gives him some of Stan’s workout clothes, they are a little big on him but at least they have the same shoe size. She also washes Nahele’s backpack, and puts all of his belongings in a new one that Stan bought but then never used. Simon, who is originally the driver but tended to take care of Grace when she is all by herself in the big house, makes them mac and cheese and Nahele eats three servings.

Nahele lived in the foster house Steve founded for a few months, but then Mr. Hoffman died, and Mrs. Hoffman was so devastated she called social services and asked for them to take all the kids. That’s how he ended up in the worst place ever. He tried to survive, to be strong, but when an older kid tried to touch him during the night he fled. He’s been living in the streets since then. Avoiding the police and hiding from his social worker because he doesn’t want to go back to that place. But also because he doesn’t want to annoy Steve. He went to all the trouble to find him a nice home, he doesn’t want to be a burden. Nahele confides all of that to Grace one evening Simon took them to eat outside.

Grace promises not to tell, but makes Nahele promise to come back every monday and friday to her house to wash his clothes, shower and have dinner.

Nahele agrees.

Simon promises to help her, and Paulette also helps Grace so her parents don’t notice she was smuggling a homeless boy into the house twice a week.

But with everything that happened she missed two of Nahele’s meetings. She is divided in between worrying for her Danno and wondering where Nahele is. The boy refused the phone Grace wanted to buy him, saying it could get him in trouble or make him an easy target to get robbed. But now Grace blames herself because she didn’t insist, now she could call him and know how he is.

After her dad woke up everything calms down. And when she senses she can go out without being suspicious, she calls Paulette. The plan is simple: meet at Shakelakela Milks, see if Nahele is there, if not, try to find him.

Uncle Steve is a bit protective, but his conditions are easy to maintain, and with Paulette’s help, her cover is solid, she even asks for money and Uncle Steve says yes. After he drops her off Grace finds her friend waiting for her, and hugs her in relief. When Steve’s truck disappears, their operation begins.

Thankfully it ends very quickly because Nahele was in the crowd waiting for the food at Shakelakela Milks.

“Nahele!” Grace yells, running towards him.

“Grace!” Nahele says upon seeing her, getting out of the line to be close to her.

And Grace is so relieved to see him that she hugs him. Not caring that he was dirty and smells a little bit too much. She is so glad to see him, alive and in one piece. Apparently he also is glad to see her because he hugs back really tight.

“I went to your house on friday and saw the police and the house full of tape,” Nahele explains after waving at Paulette. “I asked some police officer what happened and he just said something about a domestic violence incident. He also said a detective was hurt. I was worried...I thought something happened to you, that your mom hurt you or your brother or something worse."

Of course Nahele would think something like that, she can’t blame him. So Grace just shakes her head.

“I’m all right, Charlie’s all right too...but...yeah, my mom hurt my dad, and he had to go to the hospital because it was really bad. We’re staying with my Uncle Steve. He’s our foster dad, actually,” she jokes at the end, trying to lighten the mood.

It doesn’t work.

“Danny’s hurt?” Nahele says in a whisper, clearly scared. “What happened? Is he ok? Grace, what the hell happened?”

So she tells Nahele everything, crying a little bit. Nahele looks sadly at her.

“Look, I actually don’t have much time. My schedule is really different now that I’m living with Uncle Steve. We don’t swim at 5 a.m, but nearly...” the three teenagers laugh at that. “He’s really punctual so it’s not like before. But I promise I’m working something out, I’m learning his schedule so when the coasts are clear you can go there instead."

“Don’t worry about that Grace, I’m just glad you and Charlie are fine and that I could see you again,” they smile at each other. With Charlie, Grace is the older sibling, she didn’t know how it feels to have an older sibling. But if she had, she wishes it was like Nahele.

“What a bummer,” says Paulette, breaking their moment. “Because we wanted to buy you dinner, but if you’re sure…”

Nahele laughs, but accepts, food might do him good.

And Grace is right, after she learns Uncle Steve’s schedule she manages to get Nahele into the house, to the shower, belly full and clothes washed while Steve is in therapy or in foster-classes. She also texts Uncle Simon, so he also could keep an eye out for Nahele.

Grace is prepping something simple for Nahele, chicken soup from a packet and sandwiches, also she is making some tea with honey. In the meantime Nahele showers in the downstairs bathroom. His clean clothes folded in the office, because Grace didn’t want to use the reading room as a changing room and accidentally see Nahele naked. That would be awkward, and Paulette will probably cry because her crush on Nahele is obvious.

Apparently, Grace forgets Nahele’s t-shirt because he can’t find any. With clean underwear, sweats, socks and tennis on, he covers his chest with the towel and goes to the kitchen.

“Have you seen my t-shirt?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s airing in the lanai with your hoodie,” she turns the stove off. “C’mon, I’ll show you, we can even eat there!”

Grace is outside, Nahele close behind her when Mary, Joanie and Charlie enter the house, screaming “Surprise we’re early!." But Mary’s shut down quickly when he sees the shirtless boy and Grace heading out.

“Grace?” Mary asks, and Grace stands still, clenching the door handle. “Who’s this boy?”

“Uhmm...” mumbles Grace, turning slowly, realizing that the towel around Nahele’s chest fell. “Good question, Auntie Mary.” She looks back at tNahele who is paralyzed, looking at her with fear.

He shakes his head, pleading Grace not to tell anything.

That’s how they end up sitting in the living room, Nahele with all his clothes on, waiting for her fate. She didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, it wasn’t like Nahele was naked or something, and they weren’t doing anything! Well...the fact that the poor boy looked like he was in the middle of doing something bad and that Grace refused to speak, wasn’t good for any of them but...hell, she promised not to tell, and she didn’t want to break their deal.

She is surprised when the front door unlocks and not only Uncle Steve comes inside, but also her dad.

“Danno!” Screams Grace, overjoyed.

She gets up and goes to him, hugging him carefully, mindful of his injuries, but _oh so glad_ his dad is here. Grace can’t help but cry in relief. Her Danno is back home, everything will be fine. She feels when Charlie joins the hug, his dad is also crying while holding the both of them close.

“Hey monkey, hey buddy, everything is alright. Danno’s home.” Grace looks how her dad kisses Charlie’s head and then kisses her on the check.

“I didn’t know you were coming home, Danno! Why didn’t you tell us!” Grace accuses him of noticing she refers to Uncle Steve’s house as her home, but not correcting herself.

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” says Steve.

“Yeah, a surprise, uh? I wanted to come back home, surprise everyone, have a decent meal for the first time in nearly three weeks. But look at that, I’m the one being surprised when Mary calls us to tell us she finds you, alone with a boy without a shirt on. Care to explain, Grace Danielle Williams?” Danny says, looking at her with one raised eyebrow.

_Oh, no_.

“Nahele?” She hears Uncle Steve asks once he’s in the living room. “You’re the one without the shirt? What are you doing here, pal? I haven’t heard from you for ages! And now I found you here, in my house, with my daughter...foster daughter. What’s going on here?”

Danny comes closer to the other boy, he’s using a cane and his left arm is in a sling to keep the collarbone in one place. Mary takes that as her que and brings Charlie and Joanie upstairs to play, disappearing from the situation.

“I’m glad to see you, ‘Hele. It’s been too long and your old phone number doesn’t work anymore. And I want to know why but…” he sits down besides him, grunting a little bit. “Would you care to explain yourself? I know what it was like to be a fifteen years old boy but...she’s thirteen, Nahele. Thirteen. So talk before I shoot you.” Danno was dead serious.

_Oh, no_.

It is worst than she thought. It is so embarrassing, and so wrong. She sees Nahele like an older brother, and she knows the boy feels the same way towards her. Assuming they could be together _like that_ perturbes her to no end. But if she needs to lie and say they are dating to keep Nahele’s secret, then so be it. She doesn’t want to break Nahele’s trust.

“I know I might be young but…” She starts, but Nahele interrupts her.

“No, Grace. Stop. No more lying. It’s ok. I’ll…”

“Are you sure?” She asks him, she’s willing to lie for him. Even to his Dad. She doesn’t like it but Nahele needs it for some reason.

“Yeah…” He stands up and faces both Steve and Danny. “I was living on the streets for a while. Grace saw me and she offered to wash my clothes and let me use the bathroom twice a week. Usually she also cooks me a meal and gives me food to take. Today we thought, as every thursday, that I’ll have an hour to eat, do some laundry and get a hot shower. Obviously is not like every thursday. I’m sorry, Commander, Detective…” he looks down, compose himself and looks up again.

Grace feels her heart twitch. He shouldn’t be apologizing! He didn’t do anything wrong! Nahele just needed some basic stuff every person should be able to have. It isn’t fair. Nahele shouldn’t be here in the first place. He should be home, with family, living a good life. But he’s not that lucky. He’s not lucky as Grace. And she feels so privileged she wants to scream. Why? She doesn’t deserve half of the things she has but yet she has them. Nahele, sweet Nahele, deserves the world and doesn’t have anything.

“You don’t know how sorry I am. I’m sorry if because of me you’re having to buy more food, I’m really am. I’m sorry I’ve used electricity and water and everything, I know dryers spend a lot. I’m sorry I made Grace lie, she hasn’t done anything but help me. So, please, please, please, don’t be angry at her, and I promise to never come close to her, or here, ever again...just….just don’t call the police. Let me go and I’ll disappear, I promise, just please…”

Her dad and Uncle Steve look at each other, talking without saying a word. Usually she finds it cute, one of the most endearing things in life. They love each other so much, and know each other so well that they can talk just with their eyes. Most of the times, when she witness those looks, she wishes for them to be a couple. But she doesn't mess with that. Is their problem. Now, though...she just feels dread. She won’t let them do anything bad to Nahele.

Grace swears she’ll do anything for Nahele. She thought that feeling only happened once, when her mom and Stan presented Charlie to her the first time. That protective feeling and urge, the feel she could give her life for someone, when she had Charlie for the first time in her arms. She’s feeling that same thing for this boy that’s so different from her in every sense. If his dad or Uncle Steve even make an attempt to take some cuffs or call HPD, she’ll run and open the back door to the lanai. She knows Nahele can run fast as hell, she’ll distract them long enough for Nahele to flee.

“You should be grounded just for the nearly heart attack I had when Mary called, Jesus H. Christ, Grace.” Danny falls into the couch, closing his eyes, relaxing and deflating. “You also should be grounded because you thought you had to sneak out to help Nahele. I didn’t raise you like that!” He points at Grace first, then, he turns his hand towards Nahele. “And you, young man...what’s the matter with you?!”

Even with just one hand, Danny was gesticulating wildly.

“You should have come here, or to the palace, first thing! How long have you been on the streets? What happened? Where have you been staying? How did you eat the days Grace didn’t help you out? How did you eat before you met? How long?” Danny just bombards Nahele with questions.

Nahele doesn’t know how to answer so he just looks around him carefully. Grace is way too relieved to even say something, sinking in her seat besides her father.

“So...you’re not calling the police?” He asks, unsure.

“We ARE the police, dummy,” says Danny, rolling his eyes.

“What he means,” replies Steve, clasping one of Nahele’s shoulders. “Is that you’re not in trouble. No one is calling the police. And you’re welcome to stay here. No, scratch that. I demand you stay here, if you don’t, then I’ll be forced to make you. We’ll work this out. I promised you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, and I mean it. Ok?”

“Ok,” mumbles Nahele.

Steve gives him one last hard look and then he hugs him, repeating his promise. Nahele feels overwhelmed, too many emotions. He wants to cry but he can’t, so he just nods against Steve’s chest and clings to him.

“You come here and give your old man a hug, will ya’?” Says Danny. Grace complies quickly, also overwhelmed, but freely crying.

Everything went better than expected.

“If Nahele is in the guest room, where I’m supposed to sleep?” Asks Danny while Steve is getting the fire ready in the grill.

Grace and Nahele are making the bed in the new guest room and puttin all of his belongings in the closet. By the sound of it, it seems they facetimed one of Grace’s friends and are chatting happily. Charlie spent nearly half an hour talking to Danny non stop, then he fell asleep on his chest and Steve put him in his bed to take a nap, he should be awake when their guests arrive. Joanie had her nap early, and it’s playing in the sand with Mary.

“What do you mean?” Replies Steve, not looking at him, fanning a piece of cardboard so the fire expands.

“Don’t get me wrong. Nahele should be in the guestroom, no questions asked. But I’m kind of...injured, at the moment. I can’t sleep on the couch,” explains Danny.

“Yeah, I know. You’re sleeping in my bed. Nahele or no Nahele, that was always my plan. My new bed is more comfortable. When I bought the kids beds I decided I wanted a new set. It’s better for your back,” says Steve.

“So it only took you six years to change the bed where your parents conceived you, that’s good to know” Danny laughs, rolling his cane between his hands.

“I changed the mattress way before that. Don’t be a pain in the ass and accept the good bed, will you?” The fire was behaving for the moment so Steve went and dumped more coal on top of it.

“I will. I am. Thanks. But where will you sleep?” Danny asks again.

“In my bed. I’m not sleeping on the couch of my own house,” Steve smiles triumphantly when the coals turn on fire and a big flame appears. “All right. Now we have to wait for the flame to die a little bit and we’re all set.” He turns to Danny and looks at his friend. “What? What’s with the face? You have a face...in your face."

Danny is torn. Part of him wants to mock Steve, _a face on his face? What was wrong with him?_ , but he knows his friend is trying not to think too much of what he just did, so he might take Danny mocking him in the wrong way. He also wants to push Steve, ask what was going on, but part of him is used to let Steve figure things at his own rhythm. They’ve been kissing and holding hands, and Steve had been so open and honest about his affections that Danny has no doubts that Steve is leaving his old ways behind, slowly but surely. Danny has never questioned their feelings, just if Steve was capable of letting go of more than thirty years of adoctrinery and love a man openly. But one thing is giving him a chaste peck on the check when an unknown nurse is following them while he’s being released from the hospital, and another completely different thing is publicly announcing they are going to sleep in the same bed, just because they want to, to their whole ohana.

He’s a hundred percent on board, he’s been aching to get closer to Steve any chance he got. But maybe it is too much for Steve. Danny doesn’t want to be the reason Steve cries, pukes and has panic attacks, again. He knows he has, in the past, when Steve didn’t say a word and Danny thought he was playing hard to get. When Steve was fighting his internal demons and letting them win. Now, Danny knows better. And even if he’ll do nearly anything to sleep besides Steve...he can’t do that to the man he loves.

“Are we going to sleep together?” He just asks. He has to make sure that Steve and him are on the same page.

“Danny…” Steve deflates, he avoids his eyes and breathes deeply a few times. “If I can’t sleep besides the person I love, not even in the biblical sense, what I am doing at all? If it’s not with you, for you? Then for whom? I know it must be for me, and it is, because _you_ and _you sleeping with me_ is what I want,” Steve snaps.

Danny is so glad and happy he could jump. But he can’t because his knee is still fucked up and he could tear his stitches. He wants to, thought.

“It’s all fine, babe, I was just asking,” he replies. “But if you think I’ll wake up at six in the morning because you crazy SEAL needs , you got another thing coming, I’m telling you."

“Five twenty, actually."

“Wait...what?! Why?!” Danny can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“If I want to make it in time with the kids, I need to wake up earlier,” Steve explains, like it is no big deal.

“Do you also milk the cows and feed the chickens? If you’re up that early…” Danny retorts, still not believing his partner's whereabouts.

“No, but I made them nutritiously balanced breakfast, lunches and snacks. It takes time. Not that you would know” Steve smiles sarcastically at him, going back inside the pick up the meat.

“Are you implying I don’t know how to feed my children?” Danny follows him, walking faster than necessary but he’s not staying behind.

“I’m just saying...that maybe eating malasadas everyday is not that good of a lifestyle, that’s all” Steve opens the fridge and starts to rummage around all the stuff there.

“First of all, the steaks are defrosting in the counter, so stop messing with the fridge,” Danny points to said meat with his cane. “Second, I don’t eat malasadas every day. Third, I’m not, I repeat, I am not receiving advice for someone who puts butter in their coffee!”

Steve squints at him, opening his mouth in offence. After that the argument just keeps going back and forth, pausing to give Charlie his bottle of milk and go back outside to start the cooking (Steve brought a chair with Danny’s special pillow so he wouldn’t hurt his knee and cuts anymore). That’s how their friends find them, fighting about a totally different topic, but in full ranting mode.

“I really missed this,” says Kono, coming into the lanai with a cooler in hand.

“Really? Because I damn well appreciated the silence.” Lou came out also, shaking his head.

Twenty minutes later, the house was full of people eating, drinking and laughing. Steve sits back, watching all of them, feeling a bittersweet happiness. On one hand, he has every single person he cares here, having an amazing time. But the fact that Nahele thought he was going to call the police on him after knowing he was living in the streets for months...it broke his heart.

He thought he’ll be fighting against his conflicted feelings about sharing a bed with Danny, but, actually, he was pretty good with that. They had, officially, one of the most slow moving relationships. Steve was honest when he told Danny he needed him in his bed, and it’s true, Steve’s been ready since he thought about snuggling with Danny in the hospital bed the first time he went to visit. Plus the fact that all of his friends were explicitly supportive of Danny living with him while he was recovering helps him feel accepted.

Steve’s problem is the fact that Nahele thought it was better to be homeless than talking to him, or Danny. His problem is that his little girl had to sneak behind their back to help Nahele because the boy didn’t want them to know what was happening. What kind of man was Steve if he couldn’t keep his promise to Nahele?

“Are you thinking about our boy?” Says Danny, coming to sit besides him, a little far away from the rest. “Don’t blame yourself. We couldn’t have known. If it’s anybody’s fault is the system, they aren’t doing their work”

“I can’t help it. I promised to him, Danny, that I wouldn’t let anything happen to him, that I will always protect him. And look at that. What a lousy job I did…” he shakes his head, looking at his hands and the beer bottle he totally forgot he had. Steve drinks a big gulp of it. “I know how the system works, they suck, that’s why I had to know better...but, fuck… at least we found him first. Or at least Gracie did."

“Speaking of that, did you call that social worker who has the hots for you?” Danny winks at him, trying to sneak the beer out of Steve’s hands but he keeps it away. Danny’s taking meds, he can’t drink alcohol for another two to three weeks.

“Yeah. She freaked out because the disappearance of Nahele was kept under the rug. She’s coming over tomorrow, first thing in the morning. So I’ll drop the kids at school and come back here. I took half a day from work,” Steve explains. “And she’s married, Danny. And I’m...unavailable."

“‘Unavailable, uh? I like the sound of that, babe.” They smile sweetly to each other for a long while. Carefully, Danny goes for Steve’s hand. “I promise I don’t want to steal your beer,” he says, and interlocks their fingers.

“Thanks, Danny,” Steve smiles all dopey at him. “But…that means we’ll have to talk to him. There’s a bunch of stuff we don’t know and he’ll have to tell us...even if it’s uncomfortable."

“Yeah…” Danny agrees.

“And I have to tell you, I’ve thought about seeing if he can stay here. I’m taking the foster parent course. I don’t want Nahele far from me. Not again. But also I don’t want you guys to leave...I don’t know how that makes you feel,” says Steve, looking at their joined hands.

“I think it’s the right thing to do, Steve. Don’t sweat it. You said...you said we’ll go through all of this together, the two of us. And I hope you know it’s not only one way. I’m here for you, too. And I’m not going anywhere. The kids neither are going anywhere, at least not at the moment. You’re stuck with us.” Danny strokes Steve’s knuckles with his thumb in a slow show of affection.

“That’s really good to know."

Steve looks up, and sees Grace looking at them with a kind smile, then saying something to Charlie and Nahele, the smaller boy looks at them and waves , happy and unconcerned. Nahele also waves at them, shy. Steve feels how his heart grows tenfold. Then, looking down, he sees his hand in Danny’s and knows...he just knows, everything will be fine in the end, because they’re all together.

And if he hears in the background that someone (Max) started to play “Your song” in a keyboard, well...he’s not that freaked out that much about that song anymore.

* * *

**Part II**

* * *

How can one live so many years so used to wearing one item of clothes and come to despise them so hard after not wearing them for just a few years? Danny’s talking about ties, of-fucking-course he’s talking about ties. And when this is over he’s going to tell Steve how much of his discomfort is his fault, because Danny is already blaming him for his lack of comfort by wearing ties since he put in on this morning.

Steve didn’t complain when he had to dress up for court this morning, he was happy to indulge Danny when he cornered him against the stairs to fix his crooked tie. Maybe the impromptu make out they had until the children became too noisy in the kitchen helped but… he better keeps his mind out of the gutter right now.

He’s standing in his seat, supporting his weight on the table and with his cane, his knee and hip still sore and in need of physical therapy, so Danny’s waiting for the judge to arrive on his feet. Better being already up for the “all rise” moment. The sling came out a few days ago, and Dr. Bufano said to slowly start applying pressure and making natural movements with it carefully, like using his cane and using the weights his therapist gave him, otherwise he’ll mess his collarbone all over again.

Danny wants to turn and keep talking with Steve, but his lawyer didn’t seem too kind with that idea after Stan and Rachel arrive.

Rachel arrives in silence, she looks at Danny, then at Steve, she seems like she wants to get closer but her lawyer takes her arm gently and guides her carefully to their seats, to the other side of the room.

When Stan arrives he shakes his hand friendly and sits down besides Danny’s lawyer, he is also suing Rachel.

Quickly after that a woman arrived, introducing herself as Stan’s lawyer and sitting besides him. Their lawyers shake hands and then laugh silently, patting each other's backs.

“What was that, Patrick?” Danny complains in a hushed tone.

“Sorry, Danny, we were classmates in Stanford. It’s funny every time we find each other in court. But don’t worry, if Dayana is here, we’re almost done with this,” his lawyer explains.

“Is she good?” Danny asks, eyeing the petite woman.

“Top of hour class every single semester. First one to get into a firm still being a student. She graduated with so many honors we all thought the diploma had to have at least ten pages. We’re winning this, Danny. You don’t have to worry. Besides, she’s friends with the district prosecutor."

Danny nods. Leave Stan to have the best attorney ever. Patrick wasn’t bad, he is really good at his job, actually. He won Grace’s shared custody, and adjusted his child support to his real income and not his supposed one. Danny wishes he had him when everything happened in Jersey, but Patrick Tupuola was born and raised in Hawaii. There was no chance of finding him in the mainland after he graduated. Or booking an appointment with him without Kamekona’s help.

“She’s the district prosecutor,” Patrick whispers as a tall woman enters the room.

She greets everyone in the room and puts her belongings in the last seat of the table. A minute later the judge arrives.

“Being September 12th of the present year, at nine hours and two minutes in the morning, in the city of Oahu, the oral trial hearing of the State, Daniel Williams and Stanley Edwards against Rachel Hollander begins…” says the judge in a monotone voice. He looks at Danny’s table. “Prosecutor, please…”

And so it begins.

The summary is simple.

Danny doesn’t want to press charges on Rachel because of what happened, but based on the consequences of her actions, he wishes full custody of both of their children. Stanley asks for visitations right to Charlie, and a millionaire indemnization for damages caused by hiding the truth about Charlie’s paternity. The State is accusing Rachel of attempted murder in second degree with premeditation, aggravated assault, heavy injuries to a law enforcement officer, and child neglect and child abandonment.

It takes hours. And they just cover the testimonies of the adults. The court schedules a date for the social worker of the case to interview the children about what happened that day. The police report will be finished with their testimony.

“Mr. Williams,” the judge begins and he stands up with difficulty. “It’s obvious that the circumstances have changed, but it’s part of the process for me to ask. Try to be as detailed as possible: why should your children i live with you full time instead of their mother?, like they have been doing since they moved to this state.”

“I am their father, your honor. Since the divorce I haven’t been given the chance to spend as much time with my daughter as we should. And for almost three years I was denied the right to know my son and spend time with him. I can give them stability. A loving family. A good house. Time and love. Not just from me, but also…” he turns slightly, looking at Steve. They have talked about this, Steve nearly cried, saying he felt honored, and Patrick thought it was a terrific idea.

"Also from their other fatherly figure, Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett. We’re always there for them, we have been there for them since day one, and I’m sure the police records can show how important is Steve in the development of their lives, as my partner, as my friend, as my lover. He has sacrificed his life for them, and I’m sure he’ll do it all over again. What my household can give my children is love, and they’ll keep growing surrounded by people who love them, who would drop everything and do everything for their well being. Not a house full of lies, fights, cheating and that’s always empty, where the only sign of love and care comes from the hired help.” Danny knows it’s a low blow. But Patrick said it is a good strategy, they also count with Simon’s (Rachel ex driver) testimony, so that argument is solid.

The judge looks at him.

Danny thinks about the moment they agreed to make their relationship public to help Danny’s case. But also to help Nahele.

* * *

**_Flashback: The morning after they found Nahele in their house._ **

* * *

Mahina Koalakoa was a reasonable and calm woman. She wakes up early, goes to work, does her share of house chores, watches the novela with her husband, drinks a glass of wine every saturday and goes to sleep early.

So when she’s in her office, supervising the painting club of the CPS, while filling some paperwork, and Steve McGarrett calls, she loses it. She calls everyone she knows, files every complaint in existence, cashes every single favor HPD owes her and even says a curse word while talking on the phone with her husband to tell him she’s going to be back home later than usual. An hour after that, she has an emergency meeting with everyone involved in the issue and, just for good measure, leaves the name of Lieutenant Commander McGarrett so high in the scale of good foster parents that it’s a little bit unethical. She doesn’t care.

After, when she’s home, and her husband is preparing a late dinner for them, she’s on the phone with Carlos Perez, detailing everything that happened that day. Her husband suggests inviting Carlos over for dinner, he’s a lonely cop who’s single with no kids, but he's on duty until ten today, so he can’t make it. Next day, when she goes over to Steve’s house, before going to her office, she’s glad to find Steve is not alone, but with Detective Danny Williams. Mahina explains the basics of everything to them.

“The good news,” she tells Steve, Danny and Nahele when she’s sipping a cup of coffee in their reading room. “Is that now I’m Nahele’s social worker, so I’ll supervise everything. You already know me, you have my contact information and you already know how I work. The bad news is that your old social worker was fired and is under investigation, so everything will take a little longer to settle."

“Is my fault?” Nahele asks, sounding aggravated.

Danny looks like he wants to swat him in the back of the neck, with love, but swat him nonetheless. Instead he pats his shoulder and says “of course not, buddy." Steve just shakes his head.

“No, Nahele,” informs Mrs. Koalakoa. “It’s her fault. Completely her fault. You’re the victim here, and you don’t know how sorry I am for everything that happened to you because of her lack of professionalism."

Nahele nods. Not quite believing her but not wanting to argue.

“The process will be longer. There’s an investigation because you ran off, and the CPS wants to know why, because that house was closured short after. Maybe there’s more kids in your same situation and we want to cover everything. But don’t worry. Just me and officer Perez will work with you, you know him. He says hi, by the way.” She comments the last part with a smile that Nahele shares briefly.

“Also, that would help to make you stay here permanently. If officer Perez and I guarantee that you came here by your own, because you feel safe under Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams' care, and not coerced to act that way, then it’s safe to say you have found your new foster home,” she explains.

“Does that mean I’ll have to tell you and Carlos why...why I left the old house?” He asks, sounding afraid.

“Yes, Officer Perez and I have to take your declaration. But not now, don’t worry about it,” she looks at Steve and Danny. “Now, gentlemen. If you want Nahele to stay here I’ll have to start a petition, and clear all the documents. I’ll come in the afternoon with an official meeting, recorded and everything, with my partner in the force, officer Carlos Perez. We’ll ask some questions and we’ll make sure Nahele is safe to stay here in the meantime,” she’s also writing down on her pad, so she doesn’t forget everything she has to do.

“Steve, you’re nearly done with the course, that’s great,” she continues. “But Danny doesn’t. And now he’s living here too, as a responsible and economically compromised adult, so he’ll have to start the course, too. Do you have a problem with that, Danny?”

“The foster dad one, right?” Danny asks, Mrs. Koalakoa nods. “Yeah, no problem. I have time now. And if it doesn’t require any physical activity, then I’m all in."

“Nothing more complicated than taking some notes and reading some laws. But also...the fact that you’ll be listed as head of the foster house with no blood relation to Steve will make things a little bit more complicated. Not impossible, but…”

“Will it be easier if we were boyfriends?” Asks Steve. Nahele blushes, and Danny drops his cane.

“For example, yeah,” she says, writing more stuff in her notepad. “So, are you? In a relationship?”

“Maybe?” Says Steve, looking at Danny.

“Well...you have to have that figured out when I come back later for the oficial testimony. In the meantime, I think we’re done. For now.” She stands up and picks her stuff up. “Oh, also. Nahele. We’re rolling you into school again, so please, dads, make sure he has supplies."

Nahele nods, trying to remember a good will that sells notebooks and stuff like that. He follows Mrs. Koalakoa to the door and promises to ‘be good’, whatever that means. He goes back to the reading room, both Danny and Steve are looking at each other with a loving gaze, and Nahele blushes again. He feels the urge to tell them to kiss already, but that is really inappropriate, and he thinks Grace will have an attack or something if they kiss in front of Nahele and not her. He wants to ask if they became boyfriends while he was at the door, but that also feels like too much.

“Are you really going to take the course?” Nahele asks Danny, worrying about his other concern. Nahele doesn’t want Danny to tire himself or do things he doesn’t want to do. Not for him, at least.

“Of course, buddy. Anything to keep you here in the long haul. I don’t say this often but..and you better shut it, Steven,” Danny points at Steve with his cane. “But we were dumb, ok? We should have known better than to leave you there. We...we thought it was the best decision but it wasn’t."

“We have to ask you, before all of this. Do you want to stay here? Is it really what you want? We won’t force you. You can do whatever you want. Stay, or just stay for a while. We can find you another home, but now we’ll keep in touch, and we will make sure you’re _always_ fine,” says Steve, looking at him unwavering.

“What do you say? What do you want to do? We have your back no matter what." Danny complements.

Maybe it was the fact that he had more than one person caring for him, or that he came to like Grace and their whole family like his own. Or the fact that he has a choice. He can choose… that had never happened before. Nahele’s always been told what to do, what to expect, how to act, how to feel...but now he has options. And he knows he shouldn’t trust that easy, but he just _knows_ deep down that Steve and Danny are telling the truth, that they’ll be there for him no matter what. That made him think about his mother, about her unconditional love. How things were with her, and he misses her so much, every day, every single day. He spends so many nights longing for that past, crying silently for his mom. It was humble, a little bit too close to poverty but it was good, and now...now…

“I want to stay...if that’s all right…” Nahele mumbles, not daring to look at them.

“Of course it’s all right, Nahele” says Steve, hugging him, and he hugs back, feeling relieved, even more than yesterday.

“That’s all set. Steve has to go out to work, but you and I...we’re going shopping. More like, you and me will sit down, shop online, and when Grace comes back from school, you’re going shopping with her. I can’t go with you, doctor’s orders,” says Danny.

“You don’t like the mall, admit it,” says Steve, standing up and leaving the reading room.

“Do you think I’m lying? Why would I do that? It’s what both doctors Bufano said. I can’t drive…” and Danny follows him, limping with his cane. “You stay right here, I’m going for my laptop,” adds Danny. “Steve!, where are you?! Did you just leave me talking alone?”

Steve is watching Charlie sleep through the app on his phone, looking at the details of his little face, distracted at how much he looks like Danny. Charlie loves his room, but likes to nap in Steve’s, he says the sun smells nice in there when he’s taking his nap.

Grace and Nahele are out, picking up everything Danny bought for him and also buying clothes. Danny secretly bought the boy a cellphone, everyone knows except Nahele (and Charlie, because he’s not really good at keeping secrets, yet), and he’s waiting to see his reaction. It’s for Nahele and also for Danny, he can’t have him without a medium of communication, and he also likes to be able to know about his children all the time, no matter where they are. Hence the phone, with a basic plan for calls and data, so he doesn’t have to worry to put money on it.

“I gave Grace my card so she could buy some more stuff for Nahele,” says Steve sitting besides Danny in the lanai.

“Like what?” Danny’s drinking mango juice, wishing it was a beer, but enjoying it anyways.

“A computer. You bought him a phone, and I bought him a laptop for school, seems fair.” Steve explains.

Danny smiles against the rim of his glass. This conversation is so domestic it gives him butterflies in the stomach. Maybe it's the pain meds, but he’s happy nonetheless.

“So maybe boyfriends, uh?” Danny asks.

“Yeah...uhm...yeah,” sputters Steve, not looking at him. He had other plans, like taking Danny out on a date, wooing him with his knowledge in fine wines, walking on the beach with the moon and the stars and then kissing him inappropriately in the middle of the parking lot. This is not as good as he had thought but maybe is what they need for the moment. “What do you say?”

“I like the idea,” says Danny. Damn, he was easy, wasn’t he? “But you have to buy me dinner, at least.”

Steve just smiles goofily at him.

When Mrs. Koalakoa comes back, she registers Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams as living-in romantic partners. But things don’t change that much for them, and it annoys Danny to no end. They still sleep in the same bed, close but not touching. Steve always says goodbye before going to work and greets him when he comes back with a chaste peck on the lips, but nothing more. They sit close together, share juice glasses. Steve even helps him shower, but nothing fucking changes and Danny is about to snap.

On friday, Chin drives him to his physical therapist appointment, then to his foster parent classes. Danny is tempted to rant about Steve’s lack of...action, but he just goes about everything else: about his inability to drive his car now that Steve is driving the Silverado, how Steve wakes up so early and manages to make the kids into morning people just to annoy him. Or the fact that everyone seems to like Steve greens and vegetables smoothies. _It’s insane, Chin, I’m telling you, that thing looks like puke! And they drink it like it’s getting out of style. Steve brainwashed all of my kids!_

Chin just smiles, accepts the matcha latte he buys him in thanks for driving him around, and says that it seems that Danny is having a blast living with Steve. Danny is too busy drinking his own cocoa puff moka to be upset, otherwise he’ll punch Chin. It’s past four p.m when they arrive back to his...to Steve’s house, and to his surprise Chin goes with him inside.

“I’m babysitting today,” Chin announces. “Jerry is supposed to come, too. Someone has _tarea de español._ ” Danny grins, closing the door behind himself, smiling at Grace. If she’s as good as his Danno at learning second languages then she’s doomed for a long, long afternoon.

Charlie screams, happy, running towards Chin and promising to show him all the draws of fish Nahele and he made, going up the stairs like a mini-torpedo. Grace mumbles something, groaning at the prospect of doing homework on a friday. Nahele just blinks and tries to hide his smile.

“I can help you with that. I always did good in spanish. I’ll go pick your things from the reading room,” Nahele suggests.

“Awesome, ‘Hele, brownie points for you,” Danny carefully turns to Chin, who makes his way inside the house and is now sitting in the living room. “That’s really cool, Chin, but why?” Danny asks.

“Because you and I are going out,” says Steve, coming down the stairs.

Danny can’t help but look at him. He’s not wearing cargoes, that’s the first thing he notices. Instead, dark blue tight jeans cover his long muscled legs. Nice black shoes, squeaky clean and shiny. Also he’s not wearing a polo, but a nice black button down. On top of that a black vest with brown leather elbow pads. He looks so fucking good Danny’s brain short circuits for a few seconds.

“What?” He asks because he’s still ogling Steve. _Damn._

“You said that if I wanted you to be my boyfriend I had to buy you dinner,” says Steve like it’s not a huge deal.

Many things happen at the same time.

Grace screams, actually screams, like a girl from the sixties in a Beatles concert. Chin laughs out loud at Danny’s face. Charlie is screaming that there’s no toilet paper in the upstairs bathroom so _please help_. Someone is knocking at the door and Nahele drops all the books and notepads because of Grace’s shriek.

Danny just stands still and looks at Steve, who has a shit eating grin on his face while fastening his watch around his wrist.

“Are you officially dating?!” Yells Grace, jumping up and down on the coach. “Oh, my, God!”

“No,” says Danny.

“Yes,” replies Steve at the same time.

“We have to call Auntie Kono, please Uncle Chin!” pleads Grace, looking at Chin with puppy eyes.

“I’m still waaaaaiiiiting!” Says Charlie from upstairs.

“Ok, ok. Stop. Stop. Everyone stop!” Yells Danny, and the living room falls into an uncomfortable quietness. “Ok. Chin, please, open the door. Nahele, pick up those things and please bring toilet paper for your little foster brother. Grace, don’t ever scream like that if it’s not an emergency, and don’t call anyone...Jesus...and you,” he points at Steve. “You, explain." 

Nahele hurries to tidy everything and help Charlie, Chin let’s Jerry in, and Grace actually calms down, but she’s still eyeing them. Jerry greets them but he’s in teacher mode so he goes directly to the reading room, saying something that sounded “ _por aquí, señorita_ ”, but Danny’s not sure. Then Charlie comes from upstairs, announcing loudly he washed his hands pretty well while singing happy birthday twice.

“I just wanted to take you out on a date. I know we rushed things and that we...we didn’t talk. I don’t like doing it, but I know you need it. So… I’m taking you out, buying you a meal, and talking until you want to come back to our three children or until Jerry has to leave at nine thirty,” says Steve, and he looks actually nervous.

Danny is so in love with this dork he wants to laugh.

“Are you really paying this time?” Danny asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I promise. I don’t…” he gets really close to Danny and takes his hand. “I don’t want to fuck this up,” he confesses, taking Danny’s hand and moving it to his backside, making Danny feel his backpocket, where his wallet rests. If Danny also cops a feel of Steve’s ass while he’s making sure the wallet is actually there, it’s only between the two of them, no matter how flushed Steve is after their little encounter.

“All right, then, babe. Dine me all you want."

Steve smiles, still flushed, giving him that one million watts smile that makes Danny weak in the knees. And given the state his knee is in right now, it’s not fair.

“You have to change. We’re going to a nice place,” Steve informs him.

“I don’t have anything more than sweats and t-shirts out here, do you have the rest of my clothes in the garage?”

“I already took out all of your clothes and put them in our closet. The garage is still a mess, I’m not letting you get out there,” Steve frowns while looking at the backdoor. Mary and him still have a lot of work to do.

“All right, babe. Thanks, I’ll change and come back down quickly, ok?”

Steve nods, looking at Danny slowly making his way up the stairs. He goes to sit down on the couch to wait for Danny. Nahele, Jerry and Grace are studying in the reading room. Chin is looking at them from the see-through doors. The house is calm, the soft murmurs of voices and the low mumble of the TV is relaxing. Charlie, who’s sitting in the ground, surrounded by toys while watching cartoons, stands up slowly and climbs into the couch, and then into Steve’s lap.

“Hey, buddy,” says Steve, combing his blond hair with his fingers.

“Hi Uncle Steve. You look pretty,” Charlie says, touching the laps of his vest.

“You think so?” Charlie nods. “Thanks, Charlie. I wanted to look nice."

“Did you dress up for Danno?” The little boy asks, smiling.

“Yeah. I wanted to look sharp for him,” Steve replies.

“Sharp?” Charlie asks, titling his head.

“Another way to say that you look nice."

“I think he likes your clothes, so you don’t hafta worry about that,” Charlie declares, resting his head against Steve’s chest.

“That’s good to know,” Steve caresses his back, enjoying the warmth of his busy little body.

“Can you buy me some gummy bears, Uncle Steve?” Asks Charlie. “I promise I’ll be nice! And...and...and I’ll save some for Joanie, too. She likes the golden ones.”

“If Danno says yes, then I’ll stop on the way home and buy some."

“But Daddy Stan bought things for Gracie all the time!” Argues Charlie. “Why can’t you? If you are Danno’s boyfriend why can’t you buy me gummies?”

“I’ll ask Danno to be my boyfriend today. He still has to say yes,” Steve is feeling a little bit uncomfortable with Charlie’s questions and inquiring eyes.

“But...but I thought you were already boyfriends! You told Miss Mahina you were so ‘Hele could stay with us...” suddenly Charlie opens his eyes, and covers his mouth, gasping dramatically. “Did you lie to miss Mahina? Uncle Steve, you’re not supposed to lie!”

This boy will be the death of him, Steve is sure. When he’s older he’ll be such a tornado but the most endearing one, it will be so hard to be mad at him. Steve just knows it.

“We didn’t lie, Charlie. Look...you know I was in the Navy, right?” Charlie nods, still looking at him quizzically. “And in the Navy we like official stuff, like our uniforms, like our rules, and our codes, we follow them because we have to, because we want to and because they’re tradition. I like tradition, that’s why I like the Navy. And even if your dad and I decided we’re together, we still haven’t done things in the traditional way. I haven’t asked him to be my boyfriend officially. And I really want to. That’s what's happening. That’s why I dressed up nice for this date."

Charlie nods, finally looking content, like Steve wasn’t about to crumble in front of him.

“Can we make a _trition_ of you buying me gummy bears when you go out with Danno?”

Steve laughs, and just because he can, he tickles Charlie, making the boy laugh harder. That’s how Danny finds them, smiling at the sight.

“I’m ready to go,” announces Danny.

“Danno! You look sharp,” says Charlie, using the new word he learned.

And he does. Steve looks at him with no shame. Black jeans, white shirt, navy blue jacket. His eyes look so blue that he feels entranced in them.

“Thanks, buddy. Your old man still has some style,” Danny winks at him and Steve can’t help but blush, again.

“Go! Uncle Steve! And don’t forget our _trition_!” Says Charlie.

“Tradition, Charlie, tradition. And don’t worry. I won’t."

When Danny asks where they’re going, Steve says to trust him, Danny does trust him but that doesn’t relax him. When they park in front of a really nice looking building, but it doesn’t look like a restaurant, Danny starts to regret his choice to trust Steve in this. They get into the elevator and Steve presses the bottom for the 14th floor. Danny asks again where they are going, and his partner only answers is “you’ll see."

And it's nice, actually.

There’s a really fancy restaurant on the 14th floor, they have glass and wooden panels surrounding the elevator doors that guide you immediately to the restaurant. It’s modern but cozy at the same time, with big vertical heaters, bright and dark tones really well balanced, and huge windows that broadcasted all of the east shore.

“How did you know about this place?” Asks Danny.

“What, I am not allowed to know great places?” Danny just looks at him, and Steve relents. “Kono told me, she thought you would like it."

“So far, she’s not wrong."

Steve has a reservation, and the butler guides them to a table for two, close to the windows, so they can enjoy the view. Steve orders “morve folle”, and he even tries to pronounce it in french, they end up both laughing. Danny orders the porterhouse steak argentinian style, and just because he’s feeling like it, he tries to say “bifé de chorizo”, also failing miserably, prompting another round of laughter. Steve orders a merlot after looking at the list of wines for a long while. 

“I thought you’ll order some cheap ass wine,” Danny says. “But ten bucks the glass is not bad. Something expencier and I wouldn't notice the difference, to be honest."

“Well...Jerry’s dad said it was good, and also said that in his country you can buy the whole bottle for seven dollars,” Steve replies.

The both of them laugh at that. The drinks arrive, then the food, and Danny can’t believe Steve ordered a fancy and over priced version of a loco moco. Danny had the idea to translate loco moco to french and it was the actual name of the dish in this menu. They laugh about that so hard that Danny feels tears in his eyes and his sides protest. They toast to a good evening and to an amazing future. For a long while they just chat about work, the kids, everything and nothing, while enjoying their food and the soft sound of the live band playing in the background.

But then, the band starts to play _that_ Elton John song. Of course, _of-fucking course_ this nice restaurant will have a band who plays Your Song, just when they are having diner. Steve can’t push it any longer, this is as good of an entry as anything.

Yesterday was a rough session, he snapped at Dr. Hapai and then cried. They began talking about their first topic, Steve’s inability to accept who he is.

“You have to understand, Steve. Who are you? Are you this person who you told me the first session? A Navy SEAL who’s ready to kill for his country whenever? Or are you this bisexual man who loves his family, his job and wants to be happy? Why do they have to be different? Why are they different to you?” Dr. Hapai had said, looking at her notes of their first meeting, and that pissed Steve off.

“That’s what I’m paying you for! For you to tell me that! I’m tired, I’m really tired. I’m trying and trying, and trying but I still overthink everything, I still look left and right before kissing Danny. I can’t even tell our kids we’re together. I can’t even take him to a fucking date or let him touch me more than a pat on the back. So please, please. Cut the crap,” Steve nearly shouted, his breath ragged and, for good measure, he kicked the coffee table that was between them.

Dr. Hapai didn’t even flinch, just looked at him with her understanding gaze.

“You have to calm down, Steve,” she said. Then, resting her elbows on her knees and his head in her hands, she looked at him. “You are you, Steve. Not the person you reflect, nor the one you want to be, or the one they taught you to be, or even the person you think you are but are repressing. You are the person you are in this moment, and that’s okay. You are the Navy SEAL but also the bisexual man. You know that this stereotypical perfect man you thought you were, but also the one you want to be, are fake, they don’t exist, they are just that, stereotypes. The only one that exist is you, and that’s who you have to accept”

“But how?” He’s still upset but at least he’s not yelling. “I know…I know we realized this mess was because of my dad, because of the Navy. I understand that I tried to survive there, that I tried to please my father. But how do I let go?”

“You have to confront and define, Steve. There’s no guilt in being yourself, and that’s the key. How do you let go? By confronting and defining yourself, by letting go of the guilt. Confront that man who you were forced to project, look at him, understand him, see his values and his flaws and accept it. You can’t bury it, but you can’t live like him because he’s not you anymore. Look at the man who you think you want to be, look at him, understand him, see his values and his flaws, accept it. But also don’t be afraid of looking at you, seeing your own flaws and values, and accept it, but instead of letting it be, love yourself, take care of yourself. Ask yourself: who are you? Define yourself with honesty and live your life, Steve."

“How do I let go of someone that’s not me?” Asked Steve.

“About whom are you talking about?”

Steve thought deeply about it. Just staying silent, he knew he still had thirty minutes left, he’s not in a hurry.

“My dad,” Steve answered, finally.

“You’re already doing that. You already started to own your house and leave your dad. I wouldn’t worry about that. I think you’re doing all right in that matter. You just have to be patient” She sighs. “As kids we need our paternal figures to love us, Steve. We need them to pay attention to us, to accept us. There’s nothing wrong with what you did so your dad could accept who you are. There’s no shame in wanting to be loved by our parents. There’s no shame in what you had to do, Steve. But you’re an adult now, not a kid. And by I hear you’re a dad yourself. You understand now."

Steve had never cried like that in front of Dr. Hapai: fullon sobbing, hiccups and snot. He’s crying so much she gets up and hands him a box of tissues. He wishes his dad loved him. But now he can love like a dad, and nothing will stop him.

“There’s nothing bad, nothing dirty, nothing forbidden about being yourself. There’s nothing more freeing and amazing than being yourself. And loving yourself. Nothing. And maybe there’s people who like to talk about others but it is because they have their own issues that don’t matter to you. Focus on your life, start to live like yourself. Express yourself. It’s your decision how you want to do it, but you have to understand it’s a process. It’s a process, but how you do it it’s up to you. Do you want to go head on and start quickly and go from there? Or slow and measured, taking small decisions and small changes? It’s totally up to you."

Steve sighs, snapping back to the present. That was therapy. This is a date with Danny, he can’t start remembering stuff in the middle of a date.

Besides, with Steve McGarrett there was only one answer to Dr. Hapai’s question, really.

Steve clears his throat and looks at Danny.

“When I was fourteen my dad and I were working on the Marquiz when this song came. It was really romantic, I liked it, and started to sing along to it. My dad turned it off immediately, I thought it was because he couldn’t stand my beautiful singing” he chuckled and Danny laughed. “But he looks at me and says. ‘The singer of that song is a faggot. I don’t want to hear you sing anything from him or any other freak out there. No son of mine is a pansy. Do you understand?’. And from that moment on, I was the man my dad wanted me to be. I didn’t question it. Never. I couldn’t stand Elton John after that, obviously. Then… three months ago, I heard that song again, I was driving and I nearly crashed.” Steve laughs again but Danny doesn’t follow.

“Jesus, Steve,” Danny says, quietly, looking at him with so much love that Steve knows it’s worth it, it’s worth keep going, keep talking.

“But I didn’t think about my dad. I mean, I did, later. But my first thought was about you. About how you saw the _me_ , the real me, called me on my bullshit, and still…you were there, still there. And I knew, I knew that if I wanted to unpack all my baggage and heal so I could be in a healthy relationship with someone it’ll have to be you. Because I needed to kiss you without thinking I would be getting my ass kicked, to hold you close and not think I was doing something dirty, because I have to have you close to me, making love or just sitting on the couch without wanting to puke with fear of getting caught. So I’m taking the plunge, Danny. All or nothing. I knew I wasn’t fair to you and that some people might call it teasing. But...not anymore. Are you with me? Will you be my partner in every sense of the word? Do you want to be my boyfriend? I don’t care it sounds like we’re Gracie’s age, I want it."

Steve’s a little out of breath, and he’s shaking really bad. Still nervous, still doubting what Danny will say. But he’s ok with it, almost. _He’s allowed to feel all of his fucking emotions, damnit._

“Damn, babe. You say the prettiest things,” Danny half jokes, but his eyes are shiny, and when he chuckles is also half a sob and the tears spill from his yes. He takes Steve's hand in his. “Yes, Steve. Of course I want to be your boyfriend."

They have to let go of their hands because Danny can’t eat with his other hand in the cast.

After that they eat in comfortable silence, talking about the food and some other stuff. Slowly they drift to the kids. _Their_ kids. And Danny can’t believe the man who always had an aneurism face after flirting with him, is now raising three kids with him. That kind of stuff didn’t happen in New Jersey. But he thinks almost everything is possible in Hawaii. And he’s not mad about it, quite the opposite. They watch the sunset in their seats, after that Steve asks for the check, and Danny fakes faint when Steve puts his card in the machine.

Danny admits to be tired after today’s physical therapy, but agrees to a small walk around the beach. Steve takes his good arm in his and helps him walk, holding his cane on his other hand and Danny, a not-so-closeted romantic, thrives, letting Steve be a gentleman and support his weight while they walk close to the shore.

When Steve kisses him, in the middle of the waterfront, while some people jog, and another bunch refuses to leave the beach, it is so good that Danny's mind shuts off. Steve, still holding him with one arm, pushes him closer, and circles his waist, licking his lips and deepening the kiss. It’s soft, at the beginning, but after a few seconds it turns dirty, deep, wet and demanding. Danny clenches his fingers around Steve’s arm, opening his mouth wider, sucking Steve’s tongue slowly, making the other man moan against his lips, and the sound goes directly to Danny’s groin. Slowly but surely Danny takes control of the kiss, sliding his good arm out of Steve’s and grabbing his head, pulling his hair, and Steve moans again so prettily that Danny has to do it again. And Steve...Steve just lets him. Lets him take control, eager for it, feeling the slide of Danny’s tongue against his so hot and good.

When they part, they’re both breathing hard, and Danny is still clasping Steve’s nape.

“Just wait until I’m all healed up,” pants Danny against his lips, and kisses him again, short and just lips.

“Yeah, baby. Don’t rush it. Or it will take longer."

Both of them grinn, and head back to the parking lot.

When Danny texts Grace to let her know, she shrieks so loud that Chin spills pineapple juice everywhere, Jerry snaps a pencil and Nahele nearly drops Charlie, who fell asleep in his chest, and he was taking him upstairs. Charlie doesn’t wake up. And when Grace explains herself, everyone forgives her. Chin doesn’t tell anyone that part of his happiness is because Kono owes him twenty bucks.

When Charlie does wake up, it’s early in the morning from the next day, and there’s a huge bucket of gummy bears in his nightstand.

It’s one week before the hearing that his lawyer suggests the idea of bringing Steve’s good record as a foster parent and his partner to the court to use it against Rachel. The more Danny hears the reasoning, the more he agrees, but he doesn’t want to overstep on Steve’s boundaries. They have come out to their ohana, but that’s it. Besides those few kisses on the beach they are not the PDA kind of couple, not really. They like to hold hands when they take Charlie to the park or when they drive, and Steve likes to put his hand on Danny’s thigh, but besides that, they are very private people.

It’s a lazy afternoon, they are babysitting Joanie, she and Charlie engrossed watching Lilo & Stitch on the TV and munchin on pineapple slices. Grace is out with friends, Danny is supposed to go pick her up in two hours or when she calls. Nahele is running and timing it because he has Athleticism club tryouts on thursday, and he really wants to get in. Mrs. Koalakoa said she’ll push his statement date further away if Nahele joins a social club at school, and after Grace piped in and said Nahele was an awesome runner, the boy decided to try it.

Steve and Danny are also watching Lilo & Stitch, or at least trying because they get sidetracked with comments about the movie. Danny is propped up in multiple cushions and Steve is lying down in the couch, head pillowed in Danny’s lap. Danny discovered that Steve’s ranting about the accuracy of the representation of the island in a children’s movie lessened when he played with his hair.

“I had a meeting with Patrick, yesterday. We talked about the court date, and our strategy,” says Danny.

“Yeah?” Says Steve, still entranced by the rhythm of Danny’s fingers in his scalp. “How did that go?”

“Well, he has a framed abstract painting of a shrimp in his office, so we know for sure he’s related to Kamekona,” he points out, making Steve chuckle. “Besides that, good. Actually, really good. But uhm...we need to talk. Patrick suggested something but I have to talk about it with you first."

Steve sits up quickly, showing off his core strength by sitting fast, with his back all straight, with no hands.

“Shoot."

“He said you were an exemplary role model to Grace and Charlie, he also pointed out that we’ve been co-parenting long before living together, and that you were a solid father figure to them. So he thinks it will be a good thing to openly present yourself as my romantic partner and show the evidence of your irrefutable help at raising Grace and Charlie.” Danny states, they are talking softly so they don’t interrupt the movie.

“And what did you say?” Steve is looking at him with an indescifrable face.

“I agreed, I think you’re an awesome father to...to our children. They love you, and I know you love them,” Danny was feeling weirdly sentimental.

“I love them more than anything, Danny,” Steve confirmed.

“I know, babe. And that makes me so happy, you have no idea. But I also think it’s a good idea to show the court that they have it good in here because of you and because of me, that they are not alone, that they have two people looking out for them."

“Yeah,” muebles Steve. “You really think so?”

“I know it, babe. So? What do you say?”

Steve looks at him with such intensity that Danny can’t help but remember those times Steve is facing danger on a case, that calculated and dangerous face that announces Danny that his partner is about to enter a warehouse with no backup besides him to just shoot and ask questions later.

“I’m all in,” he smiles, all dopey and happy. Danny can’t help but kiss him.

“Why are they doing that?” Whispers Joanie.

“When a daddy and another daddy love each other very much, they kiss,” replies Charlie.

“It looks painful. How do they breathe?” Charlie just shakes his head. “I don’t wanna ask.” Joanie whines.

“Uhm...let’s...let’s ask ‘Hele or Gracie later?” He proposes.

“Great!” And they go back to their movie, ignoring the adults.

* * *

**_End of Flashback_ **

* * *

****

The judge looks at him for a few seconds, his poker face impenetrable. Danny thinks, for a few seconds, that playing cards with that man must be hell. It would be so fun to look at Steve trying to read him, though.

“I have heard enough. Anything your client wants to add, defense?” The judge asks, looking at Rachel and his attorney from above his glasses.

“No, your honor. Just highlight the fact that Ms. Hollander is the biological mother of both minors and was their main caretaker for more than a decade."

The judge nods, looking at his computer. Then adjust the microphone and start reading without looking at anyone but the screen.

“This court grants the demands of the State, and an investigation against Rachel Hollander, acused of attempted murder in second degree with premeditation, child neglection and child abandonment, are approved. The prosecutor has ninety days for the investigation, manager, please, set the date for the next hearing. As a protective measure, Rachel Hollander must not leave the State of Hawaii, has to state her address once a month in a police station that will be assigned shortly, she has to stay away from Mr. Williams, with a range of one hundred and ten yards. The approach ban is also for minors Grace Danielle Williams, age thirteen, and Charles Stefano Williams, age 3. The social worker of the case, Mrs. Koalakoa, here present, will arrange a phone call once a month, this for the duration of the investigation, she will contact you, Ms. Hollander. I grant complete custody to the father of the minors, Daniel Dante Williams, this decision will be revisited at the end of the investigation, changed or maintained as this court sees fit. Mr. Edwards, this court needs the result of the investigation to grant a sentence in your case, in the meantime you’re allowed alternated weekend visitations with the minor Charles Stefano Williams, this visitations need to be organized by Mr. Williams, the social worker of the case, Mrs. Koalakoa, and you. Being exactly midday, this hearing ends."

Danny sags in relief, and turns to embrace Steve, falling into his arms. He can hear Stan’s lawyer congratulating Stan and Patrick, and the soft crying of Rachel in the background. Danny buries his face against Steve’s chest, he doesn’t want to look, he doesn’t want to see her. _God, a judge just took her children,_ he remembers what that feels like. But the pure joy of knowing he won, that his kids are with him and no one can take them away, that no one can measure how much time he can spend with them, or how...it’s so relieving that he almost feels guilty for not feeling something more towards Rachel’s situation. So he just hugs Steve harder.

“I’m here, Danno. Everything is alright. This is almost over and you won this one."

_Yeah_ , thinks Danny, _I won this one. And I’m not letting you go._

Danny drives his own car, after what feels like decades. He’s so happy that he just rides it for a few minutes, with no destination, just to feel the power of the Camaro under his hands. Then, he picks up Nahele first from Kukui High school, then Grace from her private school. Danny is tempted to sign up Nahele in the same place, they have a good curriculum and he knows that Nahele will shine brightly under the exigence. He doesn’t quite like the crowd there, the families are too uptight and rude, that’s why Danny is also tempted to change Grace and put her in Kukui. Steve will be so happy, he’s sure about that.

Those aren’t today’s plans, though. First thing first, shaved ice with the big kids. A nice evening just with their Danno. Then going with Grace to the palace, hang out a little bit, leave her with Kono and take Steve back home. Danny knows his daughter loves to spend time with Kono, but she also knows that today the house has to be empty because Nahele needs it. Today Nahele has to state his testimony with Officer Perez and Mrs. Koalakoa, and he can’t push it away anymore.

Nahele is awfully silent the whole ride back, he just looks to the window and answers shortly to Steve’s questions about his day out. When they arrive home, he goes to his room and comes out two minutes shy of the time his social worker is supposed to arrive.

When there’s a knock at the door, Nahele visible tenses, and looks at the ground.

“Are you scared?” Danny goes to open the door, so Steve is alone with him for a few seconds.

Nahele just nods.

“You might...you might think differently of me,” Nahele mumbles, looking at his hands.

“Nothing that you have to say will change our perception of you. We love you, Danny, me, Grace, Charlie, we all love you. We’re your ohana. You’re important to us. So don’t be scared, ‘Hele. This is to make you feel better and to help others who might be in the same situation you were."

Nahele believes Steve, he feels a little bit better, and a lot more braver. He just has to talk, nothing else.

“Wow, Nahele!” Exclaims Officer Perez when he sees the boy. “You have gotten so tall since last time I saw you. Look at you!”

“Hi, Carlos,” greets Nahele, smiling shily at the HPD officer.

“Good afternoon, Nahele,” greets Mrs. Koalakoa. “How are you today?”

“Fine.”

“How are the Commander and Detective treating you?” She asks, focused on Nahele.

“Really good,” now Nahele smiles. Both Danny and Steve smile back at him.

“That’s wonderful,” she sits down in front of Nahele, and Officer Perez sits besides her. “You know why we are here, right?”

“Yes, ma’am."

“We want to assure you that nothing you say will leave this room. Your declaration is being recorded, but your identity will be protected, as you’re a victim and also a minor,” says Officer Perez.

Nahele nods.

“Please, start from the beginning and try to be as detailed as possible,” says Mrs. Koalakoa.

“I lived with the Merrells for five months. Me and three other kids. Neither of us shared a room. There were two bathrooms. Everything was fine. Then Mr. Merrell died...heart attack, it was imminent. After that Mrs. Merrell wasn’t the same, three weeks after...after he passed away, she made a huge dinner and told us she wasn’t keeping the foster house any longer, that she couldn’t do it without her husband. We were sent to the doghouse." Nahele tells them.

“Can you clarify for us, what’s the ‘doghouse’?” Says Officer Perez.

“The doghouse is the CPS center where you go when no other civilian foster home has room, or when you’ve been kicked out...or they are waiting for you to be eighteen to send you to jail” Nahele explains.

“Thank you, Nahele, please keep going."

“Uhm...I stayed a month. Then decided I couldn’t do it anymore and I left. I lived on the streets for six months, total. I met Grace Williams during my second month on the streets. The days I didn't get help from her, Mr. Simon Zuhu helped me. Three weeks ago I moved here...and you know the rest,” concludes Nahele.

“Thank you, Nahele. But we want to know your motivation for leaving the Children Protection System grounds.” Mrs. Koalakoa asks him, Nahele just looks at the floor. “We need to know, so this doesn’t happen ever again."

“You can’t promise that, ma’am, these things will always happen, always."

“What do you mean?” Asks Officer Perez.

“The first three days were all right. I mean, you have to be always paying attention to your belongings and all that stuff but...one night an older boy thought it was good to...touch me while I was sleeping. I tried to stop him...at first he relented, but night after night he wasn’t so calm. One night he tried to cuff me to my bed. My bunkmate didn’t want trouble so he didn’t do anything. I managed to hit him in the gut and then...I punched him and slammed his head against the stairs of the bunk bed until he...just stopped moving. I made sure he was still breathing and had a pulse...I stole his money and left."

“Thank you, Nahele, for your trust. I have three questions for you then this is over. This ‘older kid’ who molested you, was this man?” Officer Perez shows Nahele a mugshot of a young man, he looks beaten and serious. Nahele nods and looks away. “All right, thank you. Last two questions, and I’m really sorry I have to ask you, you can just nod. Did he sexually assault you?” Nahele bites his lips, he starts crying silently, but he nods. “Last one. Did he rape you?” Nahele shakes his head.

“That’s it, Nahele. Thank you so much for your testimony and your honesty,” says Mrs. Koalakoa. “We will keep in touch with you."

A few seconds later, they are out of the door.

Nahele nods, he’s still crying.

Danny is heartbroken, his throat is tight and his stomach is full of knots. How did this happen? How could he let this happen? Why did Nahele think he could keep it all bottled up?

“C’mere, ‘Hele." Says Danny.

The boy clings to Danny, hugging him tightly, crying and sobbing against his shoulder. Nahele is taller than him, but right now he feels as little as a baby, so Danny just cradles him closer, touching his back and his hair, consoling him with soothed words and soft touches. There’s a shift in the sofa, and then Steve is joining the hug, draping his long body against Nahele’s back, comforting him in silence.

Danny is sure he can’t love this kid more even if he was his biological father. And by the broken look on Steve’s face he knows his partner is feeling the same thing. Nahele is their son, and nothing will happen to him while they’re both breathing.

After what feels like hours, Nahele clears his throat and asks.

“Please don’t tell Gracie."

“No, Nahele. Never. Don’t worry about that. You don’t have to worry at all, actually,” Danny assures him. “What you told us today stays between us. And it doesn’t change how we feel about you, not at all. Do you understand?”

Nahele nods.

Steve holds one of his shoulders and makes the boy turn to look at him. He has his serious face on, his eyes determined, but with a softness Danny didn’t know Steve was capable of. It makes Danny smile despite everything.

“This is your home, as long as you want it to be. You’re safe here. You’re loved. I promised I would never let anything happen to you, and now we have more people with us to make sure I keep that promise. Don’t worry, son. Everything is alright." Steve promises

Nahele is crying again, but now he’s also smiling, letting Steve hug him and take him under his arm. Danny just watches them, a soft watery smile also adorning his face.

“I have a grocery list ready to be bought, and all afternoon to organize the pantry and cook some freezer meals, what do you say, Nahele? Want to go shopping with me?” Asks Steve, and Nahele nods enthusiastically. “Then let’s go. Danno needs to do his knee exercises and you know he gets shy when you’re looking at him.”

“I don’t get shy!” Danny retorts. He really gets embarrassed because he has to do some weird stretching that must belong to a new age sex positions book and not physical therapy. But he doesn’t want them to know, or to watch for that matter.

“Can I shower and change first?”

“Yeah, buddy, no problem,” replies Steve. He’s glad Nahele shares the importance of quick and efficient showers.

When Charlie arrives home, he’s upset because neither Nahele or Grace are home, and when he asks where his Uncle Steve is, he has a meltdown, he also wants to go shopping. After that Charlie snuggles with Danny while watching a baseball game, and asks a lot of questions about the game, so Danny counts it as a win for his team anyway.

Time flies.

It’s late, Charlie is asleep and the kids just finished putting the last of the glass containers in the garage-freezer. Nahele and Steve rope Grace into their cooking frenzy. Danny makes them company, even drinks a cup of tea, but decides to go to bed early after making both kids promise not to break their bedtime. 

He’s in the middle of “Män som hatar kvinnor” when Steve goes up to their room. It’s late for them, when there’s no case they’re usually in bed at ten p.m, but now it's almost eleven and Steve’s not even in pajamas yet. To his surprise his partner just strips and gets into their bed, rolling to be close to him so all of that naked and tan skin is against Danny.

“You’re a distraction, babe. How am I supposed to finish this book with you looking like that?” Danny jokes, closing his book and rolling to face Steve.

“You don’t have enough cop action in your real life?” Mocks Steve, tangling their legs and hugging Danny’s waist.

“Sometimes you need to see it happening to someone else, besides, Vanger has a hot partner."

Steve doesn’t say anything, just hums and starts to kiss Danny’s neck, caressing his back and plastering their chest together.

“Today was…hard,” mumbles Steve, resting his forehead against Danny’s neck. Their height difference makes the position complicated, but Steve needs to be surrounded by his boyfriend. “I thought…I thought I’ll lose it so many times when ‘Hele was talking."

“Me too, babe. I want to go to that place and shoot everyone who hurt him. And maybe go to that ex foster lady and steal her plants. You know how much they hate that.” Danny touches Steve’s naked back, his butt, his thighs, everything he can touch.

“You promise?”

“I promise, babe. Really…now…” Danny tilts Steve’s head so he’s looking at him. “Mind telling me why the sudden need to make so many meals? I’m liking this cooking method all right, it saves a lot of time, but we’re still stocked since last time you cooked.”

“Can we...not tonight?” Even after everything, Steve doesn’t really like talking.

“Nuhuh, spill, or I’ll tell Dr. Bear,” Danny says and Steve just groans.

“You know she doesn’t like when you call her that."

“Oh? And now you care to respect other people’s feelings about nicknames? That’s rich. Now, talk."

Steve lets out a big sigh.

“I just…wanted to make sure he was okay with everything, you know? He was assaulted, and by another man. I…I had this idea that maybe he might feel uncomfortable with…with me, being a man who also likes men. I just wanted to show him that I’m not a danger to him,” he pauses and looks at Danny. “You don’t have to tell me how dumb that line of thought was, it took me five minutes in the car with him to realize we have awesome kids and that my insecurities take advantage of everything to make me feel bad."

“Glad you realize that, otherwise I’ll have to slap you."

Danny kisses Steve slowly, carefully, like Steve’s the one who has to go slow because he’s injured and not the other way around. Steve lets him, and gives himself into the kiss. He rolls to his back so Danny is on top of him, and with a breathy moan he opens his legs, welcoming his lover closer to him. They make out leisurely, discarding clothes in no hurry, moaning and nipping at each other’s lips and tongues, rolling their hips so they can grind together, happy to enjoy the friction. 

“Make love to me,” begs Steve, and Danny complies easily, nodding against his chest and extending one hand to their nightstand to search for the lube.

Falling into a sexual relationship was easier than what they both believed, but they always take things slow. Most of the time, when they are being intimate, they’re too focused on not hurting each other and to make it good, checking all the time if everything is alright. But now they just feel themselves, breathing in each other’s mouths, moaning and whimpering softly in each other's ears. Danny loses himself in Steve, going fast and hard, slow and deep, not being able to decide and not caring. Steve clings to him, following him and trusting him, overwhelmed in the feeling of being so close together, of loving each other so much.

They had to take another shower, and this time Danny insists that Steve gets dressed. _We have pajamas for a reason, Steven._

Back in bed, Steve spoons Danny, murmuring a bunch of ‘I love you’s in his damp hair, and before Danny can reply, Steve is already asleep, with no worry about the answer, because he already knows that Danny loves him back. That thought, plus the fact his children are sleeping safely under the same roof as him, makes him fall asleep just as fast.

It’s hard to believe that a small and soft child like Charlie, has the most boney knees in the world. Steve knows he’s still taking medicine so his body doesn’t reject the transplant and to keep his defenses up, and one of those pills is supposed to make his bones stronger. But for growth proposes, not…making his knee so hard and pointy they can cut. And he’s feeling just that right at this moment, making him wake up suddenly.

Charlie is on top of him at the moment, trying to crawl into the middle of the bed, between Danny and him, Steve realizes. But they were sleeping so close that Charlie had nowhere to go. So it looks like he decided to just…rest over him.

“Hey, Charlie, what happened?” Asks Steve, the sound of his voice makes Danny stir.

“Had a nightmare,” he mumbles, clinging to Steve, cocooning himself with his face against his neck.

“Oh, baby...” Danny is awake now, and it’s caressing Charlie’s back.

“I dreamed you went to war, and you never came back,” he wasn’t crying but he sounded sad. Danny and Steve shared a look.

The truth is that being in the Reserves makes the option to being deployed something too real, but they haven’t talked about that. He hadn’t even gone to Reserves Training, so they haven’t talked about any of those issues. But having Charlie afraid of that is not normal.

“Where did you get that, Charlie?” Danny asks, getting closer to his son.

“Today Jackson’s mommy came as a surprise, she was wearing chameleon clothes, like Uncle Steve’s and…and…Miss Ana said that Jackson’s mummy was far, far away for a long time, defending our country in war. I don’t want you to go to war, Uncle Steve! I want you to stay here, really, really close.” Charlie pouting was the cutest thing in the world, but the boy was clearly upset, Steve couldn’t help but kiss his forehead.

“Right now I’m here, Charlie. I’m not at war, or training, I’m right here with Danno and our family,” Steve says, trying to calm him down. “Besides, my _camo_ clothes are dirty.”

“And if you have to leave?” Charlie asks, afraid.

“ _If_ I have to leave, I promise I’ll always come back."

Charlie nods, and rolls into the new space between him and Danny, snuggling close to them. A few minutes later he is sound asleep.

“I’m counting on you to keep that promise, soldier,” says Danny, closing his eyes, ready to sleep again.

“It’s _sailor_ , and yes, I promise,” he goes back to sleep.

He’ll always come back, that’s not even a question.

In general, life is pretty good. Until the reality of their jobs hits, not as strong as it could be, but there nonetheless.

A case broke the tranquility of their new family life, three days after Danny goes back to desk duty. The US ambassador in Taiwan had an affair, his girlfriend appears dead in one of Honolulu’s beaches, with a note stuffed inside her mouth promising his wife is the next. They’re all having holidays in Hawaii when that happened. Apparently he traveled with both wife and girlfriend.

“Do you forget I am a detective, you schmuck?” Danny replies angrily at the tech table while talking on the phone with Steve. “I’m telling you. He bought the three tickets with the same card, the same day. He paid for the two rooms, with the same card, at the same time, and they are on the same floor. There’s no way the wife doesn’t know that she’s being cheated on, which means she knows more than she’s letting us know."

“You might have a point but you’re not here, you didn’t see her so you don’t know for sure. I’m not going to do everything again because you have a hunch!” replies Steve, they’re on their way to the palace after interviewing the ambassador and his wife.

“It’s not a hunch, it’s a honestly based deduction. Don’t waste your time, go back there and ask more questions. You said she was clearly shocked, and crying, and didn’t look like she was the kind of woman to order a murder, even if that person was cheating on her."

“Danny, I already told you…”

“I’m calling Kono,” Danny interrupts, watching the screen “She’s still there, she can ask. Bye.” He can hear Steve saying his name but with two clicks in the tech table that call is over and he is already dialing Kono.

“Want to get me in trouble, Danny?” Greets Kono, and he has to smile, she knows him well enough.

“Maybe. Here me out…” and he repeats what he told Steve, Kono just hums.

“I’ll do it, but if I get in trouble because of this I’m blaming you."

“Go ahead, babe, I’m still using my cane, that would do something” he’s smiling, feeling like, finally, they’re going forwards.

“Are you going to play the injured card, seriously?” Danny can hear how she moves into the lobby of the hotel, and the sound of the elevator arriving.

“No, I’m just saying, if Steve gives you trouble, you tell me and I hit him with my cane."

“Copy that. I’ll talk to you soon."

Danny is feeling pleased with himself, he goes to his office to keep going in the neverending task of replying and organizing emails and paperwork. Ten minutes later, Lou arrives at his office.

“McGarrett called me just to say you’re behaving like an ass,” says Lou.

“And you came all this way to tell me that?” Danny represses the urge to roll his eyes.

“Nah, the guys downstairs confirmed our suspected stream of water theory. The calculations were right, so the body must have been thrown from somewhere not far away from the beach, but far enough to take it away from the murder scene."

They go back to the tech table and follow the potential travel of the body, locating a port of artisanal fishing, in a really humble part of the island. Usually illegal immigrants use that place to lie low for a while. He remembers Kawika telling him something about taking kids from that neighborhood and teaching them how to surf.

“A beautiful girl like her in a place like that...do you think she might have gotten abducted?” Asks Lou.

“I don’t know, it’s worth going over there and take a look."

“Yeah, I’ll wait for Chin or Kono, you can’t leave the palace, and I don’t wanna be when your partner arrives. He’s really mad you hung up on him. Trouble in paradise?”

Danny blinks at him, reading the honesty in the last question.

“Are you asking about our work relationship or our romantic one?” He raises one eyebrow because of all of the girlfriends he ever had, Lou never asked questions, not even when he was clearly heartbroken or mad.

“Whichever you think needs addressing,” Lou shrugs.

“He’s an asshole, as always, and he’s my boss. I know I should respect the hierarchy and I’ll accept every punishment from him or the governor. But I’m also a cop, Lou, and I can’t simply not do my job, not when my guts are telling me that there’s something we're overlooking. So...nothing besides the ordinary."

“Good, good,” Lou nods at him, glad he hasn't lost his head after so much time out of duty. “And the other stuff?”

“The other stuff...uhm...we’re good, actually. We celebrated our anniversary yesterday, we went to the restaurant where we had our first date, had a little time for ourselves, he even opened all the doors for me,” Danny jokes, and Lou laughs loudly. Danny makes sure they’re still alone and, in a quiet tone, he adds. “He’s a really attentive boyfriend so I don’t have complaints,” Lou whistles, wiggling his eyebrows. Danny laughs, shaking his head. “And then we took the kids out for dessert to celebrate Nahele winning first place in a athleticism competition. Steve bought _this_ monstrosity, ruining everything.”

Danny takes his phone and places it on the table, then broadcasts a beautiful family picture: a smiling Steve has an equally smiling Charlie in his lap, besides him is Nahele, smiling with his mouth closed. Danny is beside Nahele, he’s laughing in disbelief, while hugging Nahele with one arm. At the other side of Steve sits Grace, smiling brightly. In the middle of the table are four pineapples cored and filled with ice cream to the brim, with a little umbrella on top and lots of whipped cream. One single glass of chocolate ice cream sits lonely and undecorated besides the pineapples.

“Why haven’t you sent me that one? I’ve been asking for it since yesterday,” complains Steve, entering the quarters and getting close to them.

“It’s a beautiful picture,” declares Chin, clapping Danny on the back.

“Thanks, it shows the amount of sacrifice I’m capable of enduring for my family,” Danny says dramatically.

“Have you ever tried the watermelon one?” Chin asks.

“There’s a watermelon one?!” Danny and Steve say at the same time.

“Yeah, it’s brutal, but really good."

“We have to go again,” Says Steve.

“No, absolutely no,” replies Danny, walking around the table to be in front of Steve. “Enough ice cream for a decade”

“C’mon. It will be cool, the kids will love it."

“No, Steve."

“Excellent, we already have plans when this case is over."

“I’m talking to a wall here...with no brain or ears or anything resembling a human being,” Danny groans. “How are you leading, by the way?”

“Just because...speaking of that…” and then Steve turns serious real fast. “What the hell were you thinking ending the call in the middle of our discussion."

Lou and Chin look at each other and slowly back off. On their way out they text the other two to let them know they’re going to check the port. Danny and Steve are too engrossed in their own business to realize.

“I had to make sure Kono could go back and ask more questions,” explains Danny.

“Which is exactly what I told you NOT to do. And you go and do it anyway. You’re supposed to follow the procedure, Danny,” Steve retorts.

“Follow the procedure, he says. Funny that, because you have never cared about appropriate policial procedure. But only you can break it when you think you’re doing what’s best for the team and the investigation."

“I’m a trained SEAL, Danny. I take measured risks”

“I’m a trained officer, too. And as much as you like to forget about it, I also have nearly twenty years on the force. So I know what I’m doing, and these are not risks like using your body as a counterweight of a makeshift ram and sending Chin with a high protection witness into the jungle! This is just sending an officer to ask more questions to a fifty years old lady! It’s not the same.”

Danny’s argument was excellent, at least in his own opinion. He even manages to remember a reckless McGarrett act that isn’t used very much in their bickering. But even with an excellent argument like his, that should have left Steve silent, the other man is going to reply. Danny could see it in his face, in the wildness of his eyes. Steve isn’t letting this one go.

Very well then, neither is Danny.

He wasn’t lying when he said that he’ll accept every punishment for not respecting his superior officer, and silently listen to everything the governor might want to say about his behavior. He might be a detective sergeant, but he was a rookie cop first, he knows how to shut up, listen and don’t look. But that doesn’t mean he’s not going down without a fight.

But their discussion gets interrupted when Kono enters the quarters, followed by Mrs. Whitemore, the ambassador's wife.

“I told Officer Kalakaua that I was willing to cooperate, only if my husband doesn’t know about it and we do it outside of our hotel."

Steve nods, gesturing for her to follow him to his office. Danny kisses Kono’s cheek, and makes sure Steve sees the gesture, he can’t stop smiling until he reaches Steve’s office.

“It was fifteen years ago...we were celebrating our wedding anniversary in Moscow. I like the beaches and the sun in summer...but I was born in Minnesota, in Warroad, I need cold, real cold in the winter. We were ice skating when we saw this beautiful woman working as a server in a little café close to the frozen lake. We went there just to see her more closely...imagine our luck when she told us she was the only waitress that spoke a little english. She was even more stunning, her personality was so bright, and her eyes...they were so clear, like ice. I...for me it was love at first sight. Then, I look at Chad and he’s also looking at her, Chad turns to me and I just knew...knew he felt the same as me. We fell in love with Vianka in that exact moment, at the same time.

”But Vianka was so young. She told us she was eighteen, and her eyes looked old, like she had seen terrible things, we didn’t know at the moment, but we could feel it, so we didn’t question it. She spent that week with us as our lover. But when we saw her ID she was just sixteen. It was too late for us...one week with her and we were so in love already, enchanted and refreshed by her, she completed us. We didn’t want to let her go. But she said that...she said that her family was dirty, criminals, that we shouldn’t keep in touch with her. That it was a fantastic week but that we had to let go, for our own good. Chad wasn't an ambassador yet, but he was climbing the political steps with strength. He agreed but he was devastated, I could tell...and to be honest so was I.

”So I took a leap of faith and asked for some favors and I managed a full scholarship for Vianka. I just sent her the application, with a post-it on it that said “If you love us, just as much we love you. Please accept. We will protect you."..three months after that she was living in the States”

The room is completely silent, Kono, Steve and Danny are looking at Mrs. Whitemore with all their attention.

“We got married in a hippie church in the middle of nowhere with fake last names” she chuckles sadly, and shows them her left hand where two gold bands rest in her ring finger. “Chad and I renewed our vows, and we married Vianka. It was the happiest day of our lives. The three of us decided that it was best for Chad’s career to let the rumors of him having an affair with some young russian immigrant run free. It was better than the truth. So we lived like that, for an amazing fourteen years. The only ones that know of this are you and our children. Our children knew...because even if we birthed them separately, they had two mommies. They even speak russian as well as english, all of them."

“So, the affair thing was just...fog to keep the view away,” says Kono.

“Yes, if you check the room that Vianka was supposed to be using, it’s untouched, she slept with us all the time. But...two days ago she received a call, in russian, and she left the room to talk. In fourteen years of marriage she had never done that, never. So of course I got suspicious, Chad thought it was nothing. She kept in touch with some family members in Russia, but she wanted to leave all away. Her family was related to arms traffic, and she was supposed to join the business when she was done with highschool, she didn’t want to, that’s why she took the opportunity to come to the States. But it seems the blood pull is strong, because she got up the next day, saying she wanted to check on something on the island by herself...and…”

Mrs. Whitemore breaks down, crying in her hands. They let her cry for a few minutes, and then she composes herself.

“The note, the one that’s a threat to me...it is but it isn’t at the same time. It’s a threat for Chad. My...my oldest son told me it was a thing the traffickers in Vianka’s family used to say in Russia, it rhymes, also in english. They say it to a man who disrespects other man: first is your girlfriend, next is your wife, and then we kill your sorry ass.”

“You think this has to do with Vianka’s family? Her past?” Asks Danny, with his professional-detective-working tone.

“I have no other explanation. I have to fake being sad because my husband had an affair, and also scared because someone wants to kill me. The truth is...I’m quite depressed, I lost my other half, the love of my life, my wife, the mother of my children. I’m trying to think how I’m going to live my life without her...I don’t really want to think about some crazy russian psycho who wants to kill us...not right now. It’s too much. I just want this to be over and stay with my husband, but I have to fake being mad at him because he cheated…”

“We understand. Thank you so much for your information, Mrs. Whitemore, we really appreciate it. And we’ll keep it between us as long as it is not mandatory to reveal it,” says Steve.

“Thank you...for understanding,” she says, and stands up to leave.

Mrs. Whitemore shakes everyone's hands and leaves shortly after. They just stay there, sitting in Steve’s office, not looking at each other but not leaving.

“I told you so,” says Danny breaking the silence.

Kono laughs, Steve buffs, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell that to the governor when he checks the report of this case."

It’s Danny turn to buff, but their fight doesn’t continue because Chin calls them.

The locals told them that a week ago some russians came to use one of the abandoned houses, everyone noticed them because the cove was made by just native people and one haole, everyone knew each other. The kids in the area recognized the picture of Vianka Motziavosky immediately, confirming she was there but they hadn't seen her.

“We searched the house, they’re not here, but all of his things are, so it is safe to say they’ll come back. We’ll just have to wait,” says Chin.

Ten hours of surveillance plus three hours of interrogation later, they had a confession. It is almost midnight, Steve gives the next morning free to everyone and they head home, exhausted but happy. They’ll have to speak with the ambassador and tell him everything, maybe arrange some extra security for a couple months, but with Vianka’s father and older brother in jail, Steve knows things must die down. They solved the murder and also began the dismantlement of a big gun-traffic ring.

When Steve and Danny arrive home, Jerry has transformed their dining table into his desk, full of computer parts, monitors, cables and boxes. Toast sits in front of Jerry, watching some numbers run really fast on one screen while munching on Charlie’s gummy bear stach. Both partners are so tired they don’t even ask.

“You’re replacing those,” says Danny.

“Relax. Already did, Jersey,” replies Toast slowly, not parting his eyes from the computer. “Little man said we could share just if I postmated him some more. We even bought some stickers to decorate the buckets. Little man is really cool."

Danny nods, Steve goes around the house to make sure everything is alright.

“Everyone did their homework, had dinner and washed their teeth. Nahele and Grace wanted to go for a run while I put Charlie to bed. So we used the tracker on their phones to make sure they just went around the block. By eight Charlie was out as a light and by nine the teens were in their no-screen time in their rooms. Light off by nine thirty. Toast arrived already high, but I made sure he didn’t smoke or bring any drugs to the house,” Jerry reports to them.

“Thanks, Jerry, you’re the best,” says Danny, patting him in the back.

“No problem. Your kids are awesome. Every time you need,” Jerry assures him.

Quickly they disassemble their things, put them in boxes and leave their house. Toast makes sure to tell Danny Charlie is a potential mind reader, and in fifteen minutes Jerry and Toast are gone.

Danny and Steve shower quickly, and Danny makes sure to wrap his knee with the cold patches. Once in bed, Steve rests his head against Danny’s chest.

“I spent some much time trying to avoid thinking of a life with you. But now that I have you...I can’t think about you not being here, about how I’ll live my life without you in it,” Steve says, touching Danny’s chest hair, entranced by the golden reflections that shone brightly under the moonlight.

“Fuck, Steve. That’s why I always get mad at you when you go all crazy and don’t take care about you. Every single time you take unnecessary risks, or get shot without your vest, or jump from buildings instead of waiting for backup. It’s because every single time I fear something might happen to you and I’ll have to live without you,” Danny mumbles against his head. “I don’t want to be like Mrs. Whitemore and have to mourn the death of the father of my kids."

Steve just hugs him, kissing his chest, just where his heart is beating .

“You know I don’t do it on purpose.”

“Sometimes it feels like you do,” accuses Danny.

“I don’t, Danny, I promise," replies Steve, with honesty. 

“I hope you really fucking do, Steven. Or I’ll talk with Mamo, resurrect you and kill you all over again.”

It’s a lazy Saturday, so they bring the kids to the office. Charlie is playing in Danny’s office with his toys. Grace is chatting with Kono in her office, and Lou is teaching Nahele about gun safety. Steve is trying to finish a report so they can all leave and have lunch when his office phone rings.

“McGarrett,” he answers.

“Steve McGarrett?” Asks a man.

“Yes, who’s this?” Steve is intrigued.

“Kaili Huikala, I’m…”

“Nahele’s dad,” interrupts Steve.

“Yes, it’s good you already know who I am. Mr. McGarrett, I’ll be out next week. I don’t have a house, nor money, or a job. But I need to see my son, and I know you’re his foster parent."

Steve takes a deep breath before replying.

“Mr. Huikala, you must be aware that it’s not that simple. You’ll have to talk with Nahele’s social worker, first. I might be his foster dad” and Steve’s every cell was screaming to correct that phrase, he feels way more than that, but this is not the moment."But I’m not above the law. I’ll give you Mrs. Koalakoa’s number."

“You can’t keep me away from him, I’m his father!” The other man suddenly yells. 

“No one is doing that, Mr. Huikala. I’ll make sure your parole officer has all the information you need,” Steve replies drily.

“Tell him I love him, and that I’ll do anything to get him back."

Steve doesn’t bother replying, he just ends the call and feels a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He tries to breathe, do some Navy exercises to keep calm, but he feels like throwing everything off his desk. Instead, he texts Danny, and his partner is there quickly, closing the door and making sure no children follow him.

“Nahele’s dad called? What the hell did he want? How did he get your number?” Whispers Danny, or as close as a whisper he is able to.

“He wanted to see Nahele...he said he’ll do anything to get him back. I don’t know how he got this number, it must be in the records or something like that, we’re a public office…” Steve explains, trying to keep his cool.

“We have to tell him." Danny replies, serious.

“What?! No. Why?”

Danny looks at him like he’s stupid, but Steve doesn’t waver. He didn’t want his boy close to that man without a guarantee that he has the means to take care of Nahele. Other part of him doesn’t want to let go of Nahele at all, already planning an escape to a safe house.

“He deserves to know his father is looking for him. What are you expecting? Having Mahina coming over one day with Kaili and having Nahele have a heart attack? I don’t see that going well.” Danny gesticules all over the place, like he’s making up for the time his arm was in a cast.

“And what do you want to tell him, Daniel?” Says Steve.

“The truth, Steven.”

Steve deflates in his chair.

It’s true.

The best thing they can do is tell Nahele the truth. He feels so selfish, wanting to keep Nahele in their house, in their family. He doesn’t know what the boy feels about the issue. They have talked about what happened in the doghouse, what happened in the streets, about Nahele’s mom, they even go twice a month to the cemetery to clean her tombstone and put some pretty flowers. But they have never talked about his dad. Steve could tell from the beginning he was avoiding the subject, so he respected Nahele’s wishes.

Danny gets close to him and touches his face, making him look up.

“Being a dad also means doing things you don’t want to because it’s the best for them. You can do it, babe. Nahele is never going to stop being our son, he’s already part of our family. I’m not letting him go that easy, and I know you’re on the same page,” Danny says, looking at his eyes and then kissing his forehead slowly, caressing the sides of his face.

“We’ll talk with him tonight, and we’ll call Mahina on monday, first thing. I don’t want to ruin our weekend,” concedes Steve.

“Damn straight, babe. Now finish that report and let’s go. We’re hungry."

They have an amazing day out, eating at Kamekona’s, going to the botanical garden after that, and spending a good time with each other. They take a lot of pictures and walk, and even if Danny complains about having to walk so much in work shoes, he’s too happy to mean any of it.

They are on their way back when something yellow crosses in front of their car. Steve manages to stop and turn, but the stop is too sudden and the kids freak out. Nahele is pale, really pale, both of his arms in front of Charlie like a shield. Grace is shaking, breathing quickly. Charlie’s bottom lip trembles, like he wants to cry but repressing it. Steve is out of the car in a second, and Danny is making sure everyone is all right, his collarbone throbbing thanks to the sudden pressure.

“Danny!” Yells Steve, and he’s out of the car, his instinct making him run to his partner.

“What the hell was that?” Asks Dammy, watching Steve kneeling over something. “We almost crashed...oh.”

Lying on the ground, awake but really tired, is a labrador. It’s really fat... _no, she’s pregnant_ , Danny realices after looking at her. The dog is covered in mud and branches, her paws are cut in some parts and she’s bleeding from somewhere in her fur.

Charlie is the first one out of the car, running to them, and stopping short by the sight of the hurt dog. He carefully gets closer to her, and gives his little hand for her to sniff, before Steve or Danny can say something, the dog is pushing her head against Charlie’s tiny hand. He flops on the floor beside her, rubbing her head, she whines pitifully. Grace and Nahele are also there, looking at the dog with sad eyes.

“She’s pregnant, but something is wrong.” Says Nahele. “She wouldn’t have come out of her birthing nest if she wasn’t in danger. Something must be really bad."

“We can’t leave her here,” says Danny, looking at Steve.

“No we can’t...Nahele, Danny, help me out, we’re loading her in the back.” Steve commands, boy and man nods. “Charlie, keep petting her, it seems to be working, she’s breathing better.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” Mimics Charlie, petting now with both hands.

“Grace, sweetheart, find a vet who’s open right now, as close as possible. We have a canine emergency.”

She salutes Steve and goes to her phone, moving her thumbs really fast. When they manage to put the dog in the back, Grace’s frowning at her phone.

“No one is working a saturday afternoon, but Uncle Kamekona says he has a cousin. And I remember him! He was there when he babysat that day of the tsunami.”

“If it’s our only choice…” Says Danny, Steve just nods.

It turns out Kamekona’s cousin has a legit vet clinic, he even said he wouldn't charge them the emergency fee. They wait for forty five minutes, and then the vet comes out of a room, looking sad. The surprisingly short amount of time he spent inside speaks for itself.

“She was in really bad shape. She had evident signs of malnutrition and abuse, someone beated her a lot. She had eight pups inside. She didn’t make it, nor seven of the pups. But we have a survivor, a little male. If you have the necessary supplies and the patient to feed him with a bottle...then it’s safe to say he can make it.”

They are all too stunned to say something.

“Can I see him?” Asks Charlie, stepping in front of the group.

“Yeah, buddy, this way.”

Charlie follows the vet to the room, and finds the little dog covered in blankets sleeping on top of a heating pad. He’s really tiny, and is shivering a bit. Charlie smiles at him.

“Hi, Eddie, everything is going to be just fine. I’m going to take care of you. Your mommy licked my hand, and let me pet her a loooong while, so I’m sure you’ll like me too.” He whispers to the little pup, not touching him but getting close.

“Eddie?” Asks Nahele.

“Yeah, he has an _Eddie_ face.”

And just like that they have a dog named Eddie.

The five of them are so entranced by little Eddie that neither Danny nor Steve complain about the amount of money they spend at Petco. They put his heating bed and “plushy mommy pillow” down the stairs and while dinner is cooking all the kids are belly down looking how Eddie sleeps and taking turns feeding him.

“Do you think that having the dog around is enough to cushion the dad-talk with ‘Hele?” Says Danny, resting his butt against the counter while Steve chops some veggies.

“I hope so. Little Eddie is even making me happy, so…” Steve drops the veggies in the pot and stirs. He’s making vegan stew, and Danny hates to say it but it’s really good.

They agree to tell him after putting Charlie to bed. Danny texts Grace, so Nahele doesn’t notice, to tell her they need some minutes alone with the other boy.

They eat dinner all together, Danny complains about the lack of meat and dairy, but eats the whole thing. Grace tells them about the movie night her friend Paulette suggests, and when Nahele blushes Steve starts to bombard him with questions about the girl, worrying about him. Grace and Danny enjoy the show in silence, looking at each other from time to time and hiding their smirks. Charlie doesn’t quite understand what is going on, so he just chews his stew carefully and starts to mumble ‘Let it go’.

Steve sends everyone to wash their teeth immediately, because they have the tendency to forget about it, so he uses his Commander voice and everyone is running to the downstairs bathroom. Danny uses the time to kiss and nip softly at Steve’s jaw, he thinks Steve is especially hot when he goes all SEAL.

They watch Ice Age because Nahele had never watched it, and Charlie wants to show it to him. The little boy sits in Nahele’s lap the whole time, pointing out his favorite parts and the scenes he thinks Nahele has to pay close attention to. Grace doesn’t pay much attention to the movie, and chats happily on the phone, probably with Paulette, telling the other girl what happened during dinner. Steve just curls around Danny, enjoying his closeness, his scent, the firmness of his chest, his stubble, his big hands and thick fingers in his hair.

Charlie insists he wants Steve to read him a story before bed, he also insists on kissing Eddie’s little head and promising to be there as soon as he wakes up.

Once Steve is back downstairs, Grace gets a facetime call from one of her Williams cousins and goes to her room while fast and loud conversation goes on. Nahele is about to pick up his own phone, check if his teammates said something in their group chat, or if someone replied to his first story on instagram (a picture of Eddie). He isn’t that fond of technology, but the phone Danny gave him had something that called him, and he liked it a lot.

“You got a minute, buddy?” Says Danny, sitting besides him.

“Yeah.” He puts the phone down, looking at Danny, surprised to see Steve coming to sit down in the arm of the couch, close to the other man.”What’s up?”

“Your dad called today, he’s getting out of jail next week,” Steve starts, looking at Nahele seriously.

Nahele nods, biting his bottom lip, not looking at them. Danny puts his hand on the boy’s knee, giving him his silent support.

“He said…”

“What?” Pushes Nahele, his voice strained.

“He wants to see you, he’ll start a process to get your custody back once he’s out.” Steve concludes. 

“We want to know what you want to do. He’s your dad, we get it, we understand that you might want to be with him.” Says Danny, trying to enfuse confidence in his voice. “But if you don’t want that. If you want to stay here. We’ll do everything we can to make it possible. We love you, ‘Hele, we just want what’s best for you and for us...that’s up to you.”

“We love you. This is about what you want to do. And no matter what you chose, we’re here for you, and this will always be your home.” Ads Steve.

Nahele is quiet for a long, long time, processing everything he heard. The two men wait patiently for him.

“Do I have to answer now?” He asks, still not looking at them.

“No, ‘Hele, you have until Mrs. Koalakoa arrives here with the papers. About a week. Think about it, ok?” Steve assures him.

“Can I go to bed?”

“Yeah, buddy. We’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast” Answers Steve, smiling at him. Nahele just nods, going up the stairs quickly.

The living room is completely silent besides the rumor of the small motor of Eddie’s bed.

“I think it will be good for us to call it a night, too, babe, we can use the extra sleep.” Suggest Danny.

“Can we feed Eddie before that? Is it...is it weird that I want to hold him?” Steve asks, looking under the stairs where the little dog rests.

Danny smiles at him, shaking his head slowly.

“I also want to hold him, but there was too much attention on the poor guy a few hours ago.”

They spend nearly an hour making the milk, heating it at the perfect temperature, and Steve snaps so many pictures of Danny feeding the little dog that his memory card is full. They also take a selfie with him, and when they finally go to bed, Steve puts it as Danny’s calling picture on his phone.

They sleep closer that night, Danny doesn’t complain about Steve’s body heat and Steve doesn’t mock Danny for sleeping with Christmas pajamas in september. None of them talk while falling asleep, too preoccupied with pretending that Nahele’s lack of answer is not killing them.

Nahele doesn’t sleep at all.

He thinks about the last time he saw his dad and realizes he doesn’t remember. He tries, he truly does, but every time an answer comes up it’s not _right_ , because in those memories Nahele was still a child, a little older than Charlie, and that can’t be the last time he saw his father. Maybe it’s the last time he really remembers, before he goes to jail, before his mom got sick. He has more memories about the Williams-McGarrett than his own family.

And that’s not right?...right?

Nahele should have more memories with his blood related family than with his foster one. But it doesn’t feel like that, it feels like he finally found a place his mom would be happy for him to stay, with people she could trust, but more importantly, with people that love him and he loves back.

Part of it it’s the money, he can’t deny it. They’ve spent so much money on him that Nahele doesn’t have another reason besides ‘love’ for all that Danny and Steve have done for him. No one has spent too much on him, caring that everything he has he likes, asking him constantly if he needs something or always checking his wardrobe to see if he has everything he needs. When his coach approached them after practice and told them that Nahele needed better running shoes, because the ones he had were really old and not his size, he thought his foster parents would get mad. And they looked mad. But they stopped at Nicke to buy him two pairs of shoes, because _one is not enough for running, little schmunk, you’ll make a hole in them in the first month_. Danny told him he was sorry he didn’t notice Nahele needed shoes for his new sport. And Nahele had to promise Steve to tell him any time something like that happened, that he shouldn’t wait until someone else noticed his needs.

Steve wants him to take care of himself. Danny gives him a nickname, something he only had for his children.

Nahele had neither of those things or memories about his dad.

But he doesn’t truly belong to this house, or at least that’s what he feels sometimes. Looking at Grace and Charlie’s white skin, their straight hair, Danny’s blue eyes, Steve’s colorful tattoos that will only look that bright in a pale haole skin. At least he looks something like his dad, when people look at them they can tell they are related.

His father was his blood, the last connection he had to his mom. And he cares for Nahele now, he wants to see him, wants to have his custody.

_We’re ohana, ‘Hele, brothers!_ said Charlie when they were watching Lilo & Stich for the umptenth time, and Nahele had to agree. He didn’t have brothers, aunts, uncles, or cousins, no one. But little Charlie saw it first, they were brothers, and he feels like his brother, even if Nahele is as native as they get.

He doesn’t feel that way about his father, and that shouldn’t be right. What’s wrong with him?

“‘Hele?” There’s a soft knock on his door and Grace pokes her head through the open door. “I saw your light on, is everything alright?”

Nahele looks at the window and sees the sun is out, and his nightstand clock says it’s almost seven in the morning.

“Had trouble sleeping, that’s all,” he replies, that’s not a lie.

“Sure…” She says, not believing him. “Can I come in?”

Nahele nods, and Grace sits down on his bed carefully.

“Next friday I’m supposed to have my phone call with my mom…”

Nahele sits, looking at her, Grace takes that as permission to sit closer to him, climbing more into it and resting her back into the wall.

“Oh...What are you going to do?” Nahele asks.

“Charlie is happy. He really wants to talk to her. I don’t. So I’m thinking about telling Mrs. Koalakoa that I’m not participating, maybe next month but not now, and I don’t even have a reason to call her next month.” She confesses. 

“Why?” Nahele looks at her, surprised to hear that answer.

“I’m just...pissed at her. She hurt my dad so bad, like...in his heart with Charlie and after that with the accident. Sometimes I think it wasn’t an accident at all. I...I feel like she really wanted to hurt him and maybe kill him.” She mumbles, looking at her hands.

“Jesus.” Whispers Nahele. “Grace that’s…that’s really messed up. You really think she wanted Danny to die?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

“I understand.”

“Really?” She looks at him with big, wet, eyes. She’s not crying, but it seems like she’s really close to.

“Yeah...I’m also thinking about what to do with...with my dad. He’s getting out of prison next week, he wants my custody back.” He grimaces, sadly.

“Oh.” Grace touches his arm carefully, making him look at her. “Does that mean you’re leaving?” Her voice wavers, but she’s still not crying.

“That’s one option. You don’t really get to choose when you’re a foster kid.” He explains, Grace nods. “If the court says you have to stay in one place, or leave with someone else, you have to do it. A good Social worker makes a big difference in what’s best for you but it’s mainly up to the judge. But…” He sighs, not wanting to think about his lack of freedom. “Danny and Steve said that if I wanted to I could be with my dad, that they’ll help him to win custody back. But they also said that...I can stay here, and that they’ll fight court to keep me here, with you.”

Grace nods again.

“That’s what they wanted to talk with you last night?”

“Yeah.”

Comfortable silence again.

“What do you want to do?” Grace asks after a while.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I’ve been thinking about it all night. I want to give a quick answer but I just…” He looks at Grace, hoping she can help him. “Does it make me a monster not wanting to be with my dad?”

“Your dad abandoned you, Nahele. It doesn’t make you a monster not wanting to be with someone who left you. I think you’re on the right track.”

“But he’s still my dad.” Nahele retorts. Grace just bites her lip.

“I think it’s the same with my mom. Maybe you don’t want to see him now, but maybe later. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to see them, or that you don’t love them. But that takes making a decision, and sometimes adults don’t understand that not now is not...you know…”

“Yeah, not now is not a never…” Suddenly, everything is pretty clear. “I don’t want to see my dad, Grace.”

“That’s all right”. Grace smiles at him.

“I want to stay with my family.” He smiles back.

“You mean your awesome little sister, fantastic little brother, two gay dads and a newborn dog?” She asks, just to make sure.

“I think they are both bisexual, but yes, little sis.” Nahele tries the words out, feeling nervous, watching Grace to see her reaction.

“That’s great to hear, big bro.” She sounds so happy, tears not present in her eyes anymore, that Nahele counts that as a win.

Grace hugs Nahele, relieved he wants to stay with them. She loves him so much, she couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving them. He was the big brother she never had the chance to have, but now she gets him, and she’s not letting go. Bloor or not, they have a stronger bond that makes them ohana.

“Can I ask you something?” Grace says after they part. Nahele nods. “How did you stop being mad at your dad for all the bad things he did? How did you forgive him?”

“I can’t forgive him. I haven’t. But just because he’s not sorry for what he’s done, he has zero amount of remorse. He did illegal stuff, Grace. He killed people, and he doesn’t feel guilty. But I also believe that it’s not up to me to judge him, and that’s helped me to stop being mad, just...just hurt. I wish he was sorry, I wish he asked for forgiveness. But he’s not. I don’t even know if he cares how I feel, and being angry only hurted me, so I stopped.”

“Do you think my mom is sorry?” She asks.

“Well...I think you just found a good reason to look up for that call next month.”

They smile at each other again, feeling better. Not realising they have spent nearly one hour talking, and that they’re not the only ones awake anymore.

“What are you doing?” Asks Steve, not caring that Danny is using his phone, just genuinely curious. He has no secrets with Danny, or anything to hide, nothing classified is in his phone so there’s no danger of his partner finding something he shouldn’t.

“I was just watching the security cameras and… Grace is in Nahele’s room. They are just...talking. It doesn’t look like they’re planning on taking over the island, that’s a relief.”

Steve snorts, drying his hair with the towel, distracting Danny for a few seconds with his naked body, but Danny’s attention goes back to the phone.

“Remember we promised not to use the audio feature unless we suspected they were doing drugs.” Steve reminds him. “Plus, the cameras make a noise when the mic gets turned on for the first time. And I haven’t turned those on since the test run.”

Danny nods, dropping the phone and watching silently as Steve dresses.

“I think learning your kids deserve to have some privacy and letting them have it is really different.” Danny sighs, and gets up, heading to the bathroom.

“Wise words, baby. Just hurry up so we can have breakfast.”

“I’m not taking a Navy shower, thanks, but no fucking thanks. I will take as long as I want. Besides…” Danny slips from his pajama pants and pulls his t-shirt, throwing it at Steve and then winking at him. “I’m the one making pancakes today, so you better behave.”

While Danny showers Steve resists the urge to look at his phone, promising himself he’ll not look. He put the cameras and the alarm system after his house got too much attention from the Yakuza, and he upgraded it during the first night the kids were staying with him. He put them to protect his family, not to spy on his teenagers. Steve has to repeat that thought a few times so he doesn’t break his own promise.

But he can’t help but knock on Nahele’s door and opening it. He finds both teenagers sitting beside each other, watching something on Nahele’s laptop, they’re laughing happily.

“If you want pancakes for breakfast, you better follow me so we can pressure Danno.”

Charlie was right, little Eddie made it through and for his first week check up the vet told them the little pup was all right, that he’ll still need the heating and the constant feeding but he had high chances of living until he was, at least, ten years old. Charlie was so pleased with himself that he refused to let Eddie go and sat with him on his lap the whole ride, insisting on feeding him after and lying down with him on his bed.

That was during the weekend.

Monday is one of those rare mornings when Danny complies with Steve’s impulsiveness. They park in a secluded and unused road. Thirty minutes later, Steve is still panting heavily on top of Danny, high with postorgasmisc bliss. Danny isn’t complaining, love making with Steve is always amazing, and when Steve takes the initiative he is up for a fun ride, metaphorically or literally, depending on where they are. Danny kisses Steve’s jaw, caressing his back with one hand and massaging his hip and lower back with the other, sharing ‘I love you’s against each other lips.

They roll down the windows of the car and make out while the windows defog, fully dressed. Steve is busy kissing his boyfriend, following with the tip of his fingers the hickeys he left down Danny’s shirt when his phone starts to ring.

“Nothing like a case to break postcoital, right, babe?” Danny jokes, letting go of Steve so he can take his phone out.

Steve frowns when he sees who is calling him.

“It’s Rachel,” Steve informs, and Danny feels his stomach drop.

“What the fuck,” is the only thing that left Danny’s lips.

“What should I do?” Asks Steve, but Danny just shrugs, eyes big.

Steve just does the first thing that comes to his mind, answering the phone and putting it on speaker.

“McGarrett,” he says, as a reflex.

“Commander. I know I shouldn’t call, but please, just hear me out. I don’t know who else to ask. I can’t call Danny, I know that much. But maybe you can...help me send a message.” She sounds awful. Nothing like the smart, sassy woman he knew all those years ago.

“I’m listening,” says Steve, keeping the Commander tone on.

“Mrs. Koalakoa informed me that Grace is not going to participate in our monthly call this saturday. I need to know why. Please, Commander. I know I'm the last person that should be asking you favors but I beg you, please. My children are everything to me. I'll pay whatever punishment is enforced by the law by my mistakes. But I don't have my kids anymore, the only thing I have is this call. And I need to tell them that everything was a mistake. That I'm sorry...so sorry. But if Grace doesn't want to talk with me...I don't… Please, Commander…"

"I'll see what I can do," he replies curtly.

"Thank you..."

Steve tucks his phone back into his pocket and looks at Danny, not really knowing what to say. He wasn’t expecting Rachel to call, but he also didn’t know that Grace decided not to participate in the call. Isn’t Mahina supposed to tell them when things like that happen? Maybe she told them in her last email, that he hadn’t read.

“I had no idea Grace didn’t want to talk with her mom,” says Danny, breaking the silence. “Did she tell you anything?”

Steve thinks about it for a while.

“When you were still in the hospital, when we thought you could still not make it...Grace told me something, about how she felt about her mom. I thought she didn’t feel that way anymore but it seems like she’s still pissed at Rachel after what happened.”

Danny nods, rubbing his mouth and stubble with his hand.

“How are you?” Asks Steve.

“I don’t know,” says Danny, honestly. Steve takes his hand carefully, interlocking their fingers, kissing his knuckles. “This is the first time I hear her voice since court and...also is the first time I hear she’s sorry about what happened.”

“She looked sorry. At least that night. She called 911 immediately, Stan told me that but I had to confirm it. The EMTs told me she did a great job at keeping the bleeding at bay.”

“So she didn’t let me bleed to death, great. Good to know,” Danny says, sarcastically.

“Danny…” Steve frowns, feeling a little lost. “You’re here thanks to that. I can’t tell you how to feel about her. But that’s what happened. She also trusted me with Grace and Charlie, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened.”

Danny sighs, nodding, resting his head against his seat.

“I’m sorry I snapped, babe. But I guess Grace and me are the same, I really didn’t want to think about it until it was extremely necessary. I think I need to talk with my daughter about everything that happened. Including the accident”.

“That’s a good idea.” Steve starts the car and heads towards the highway.

“I think I’ve been pushing our conversation too long. I’ll talk with her when you drive Charlie to his check up tomorrow,” Danny concludes.

“Why do _I_ have to take him, again?” Asks Steve to change the subject. He already knows it, but wants to hear it again anyway.

“Because, his words, not mine, that the Commander will keep him safe if someone wants to use needles. And seeing as the doctor needs some blood samples, you’re going with him. We don’t want a repeat of last time.”

Steve laughs happily. Last time Charlie had some blood exams, his poor kid cried and begged for Uncle Steve to be there and refused to stay still until he arrived. Rachel had to call Danny, who had to call Steve to bring him to the hospital.

“No problem, you know I love to spend time with him.”

Danny smiles, feeling a little bit of the dread leave his body. He was still holding Steve’s hand, and he didn’t let go until they arrived at the palace. If he kissed Steve against the wall of the elevator until the taller man was out of breath, no one had to know. No matter the suspicious look Kono sends their way.

They take care of a small robbery case in the hotel room of a US Senator who is giving a conference. He is afraid he is being targeted because he had some classified information on his computer. But it was just a bunch of crackheads who wanted easy money and saw the Senator using a new MacBook and iPhone at some restaurant.

Danny and Chin look at the surveillance cameras and find the two men immediately. After a short facial recognition they have an address. Twenty minutes later they have them detained and with a confession. Danny and Lou took the thieves to HPD. Kono made sure the robbery was just that, and it wasn’t a distraction for something bigger. Jerry confirms her theory, no information was taken from the computer or the phone, they only half attempted to reboot it, but they did it wrong. Steve recommends the Senator to change rooms because the thieves had entered using his own card, which he had forgotten in the restaurant, and asks him to be more careful. He calls someone from HPD to accompany the Senator for the duration of his trip. When Pua arrives as the security detail, Steve asks him to pay close attention to the man because he was good at representing the minorities of Alaska and quick to reply with strong, hard facts, but he was not that good at remembering where he left his wallet.

“Look at that, all done and it's not even three o clock. Wish all my days were like this. I’m going home, and I’ll email you the paperwork in an hour, Chin. I feel like writing from home today,” says Lou when they reunite at HQ, smiling satisfied.

“I trust you to keep your word, brah, I’ll be waiting.”

“I know it’s bad but I wished it was actually an information stealing case and not some haole grandpa forgetting his own stuff,” says Kono, standing besides Chin and Danny on the table. 

“That grandpa fought ten years for the right for clean water for his people, cousin.” replies Chin. “Don’t be so harsh.”

Kono nods, embarrassed.

“Yeah, what if we’re like that in a few years. Going to be so hard with us, babe?” Says Danny.

“Ah! You wish. You deserve the worst.” She laughs at them.

“Kids these days, have no damn respects” Chastises Lou, but laughs anyway.

Steve came out of his office just at that moment.

“I’m going to the doctor’s appointment with Charlie. Call me if something comes up. We need the paperwork from this reviewed by tomorrow, so deliver it today. The governor wants to make sure it wasn’t a terrorist trying to steal US information.”

“All right, boss. Good luck,” says Kono.

Steve just nods at them and leaves. Danny wishes, not for the first time, that Steve could kiss him goodbye in public. It’s stupid, he knows they are working and that they decided to keep the PDA out of work. Danny likes it that way. But moments like this, when he’s nervous about his chat with Grace, he could use the contact, the affection. Maybe they should talk about it again.

Trying to kill time before it's time to leave and pick up Grace at school, Danny focuses on his paperwork, finishing everything. He’ll review it before sending it when he’s home, he needs to leave now if he doesn’t want the afternoon traffic to make him late.

Grace’s happy to see him, surprised to be alone with him, asking where Nahele and Charlie are.

“Nahele has athleticism today, so we pick him up later. Charlie has a doctor’s appointment today. So it’s just you and me to take care of little Eddie today. How does that sound, uh?”

“Cool! I want to cuddle with him for a while. Charlie gets weirdly possessive of him,” she says, and they both laugh.

They are stuck in traffic when Danny decides to go for it.

“Your mom called.”

“My mom called,” Gracee repeats, confusion clear in her voice. “ _She_ called _you_?”

“Yes, well...no, she called Steve. That’s not important.” Danny makes sure Grace is watching him. “She told me you’re not calling her this weekend.”

Grace frowns and purses her lips, turning her head to the window, not looking at him anymore. She crosses her arms in front of her chest and she looks so much like Steve in this moment that Danny’s heart does a flip. She doesn’t say anything.

Danny sighes. _Teenagers_.

“Look. I’m not making you talk to her if you don’t want to. That’s totally up to you. You’re old enough to know what you want to do. This is not like school or other stuff were you gotta do what you’re told. And I promise you that, your relationship with your mother is _yours._ I’m just worried why. She’s your mom.” The cars move enough for Danny to turn right and, finally, free streets. They should be home in ten minutes.

Grace doesn’t say anything for long minutes, they are actually pretty close to the house when Grace nearly explodes. Danny is well versed in Williams outburst, but it’s been a while. His cop reflex kicks so he grips the steering wheel harder when Grace starts to rant.

“You’re worried about my mom? She tried to kill you, Danno! She didn’t slap you or hit you in the chest. She pushed you to a glass door so you could fall! You were in the hospital three weeks, you still need your cane during the weekends!” Grace is moving her arms up and down, gesticulating with every face muscle she has on her face and her hands flying everywhere. “She didn’t care what would happen to us after that, she only cared about her. Just like always, like with Charlie’s true dad, like when she wanted to go to Las Vegas, it’s always about her. And I’m tired! She doesn’t even care for Stan, she doesn’t care about Charlie or me. So no, dad, I don’t want to talk to her, at least not yet. Maybe later when I’m not mad at her.”

“Oh, monkey,” says Danny, parking in front of their home. “You can’t stay mad for that long, baby, that’s not good for you. It’s not good for anyone. Grace… I was also mad at your mom for some stuff, ok? I can’t lie about that, hiding Charlie from me, making me do all of this so I could be with you guys, and I don’t even want to talk about the debt with the hospital, if it weren’t for my job that would be another reason to be pretty pissed at her. But your mom is not a monster, honey, she loves you, she loves Charlie, so much, and I’ve always known that, even when I was really mad at her. She made some mistakes, and took some dessissions that sadly hurt us, but she’s paying for it.”

“Do you believe what you’re saying to me?” She asks, her voice isn’t angry anymore, she sounds hurt, tired, like this whole deal is messing too much with her, and Danny hurts for his baby girl. “Do you really believe that, after everything? After nearly bleeding to death because of her? I was there, Danno!, I saw you, I…” She starts to cry, and Danny hugs her close to him.

She has a good point. Does he believe his own speech? He knows that automatically he tries to say the best things so his kids don’t hate their mother, it’s like a reflex, but are they true?

“Uncle Steve told me that if it weren’t for your mom’s acting as a first responder I would be dead. If she wanted to kill me, why would she try to save me? And call the police? Yes, Grace. I believe what I tell you. And I want you to believe it too, even if it takes time. Ok?”

She nods against his chest, and Danny tries to calm her down.

“Nahele said that one reason I could call my mom was to know if she was really sorry.”

“Look at that.” The rush of love he feels towards Nahele is so strong he wishes the boy was with them so he could also hug him. “He’s not wrong. And he would never tell you something just to hurt you.”

“No. He’s a good big brother.” Grace smiles at him, eyes wet and red.

“He really is, uh? Should we cook his favorite for dinner?”.

Grace nods excitedly. “Yeah, but after feeding Eddie!” And she’s out of the car.

Danny sighs. Relieved and lighter. Their conversation went better than expected.

Eddie is a champion: he drinks all his milk and cuddles up to Gracie, making small happy noises. Danny helps him with his breathing exercises, applying gentle pressure in his ribs and making him breath at the rhythm he creates with his hand. Danny also helps him by making him stand up a bunch of times. Eddie wears diapers still, but they’ve noticed he likes to poop and pee in the same place of his bed, so they’re planning on taking the diaper off and placing a diaper cloth in the place he likes to go to the bathroom. He’s not walking yet, but he makes attempts, more so when Charlie is with him, like his wish to follow the boy is so strong he could walk early. The vet said that it was good, because they needed the motivation and stimulation to walk, that’s why Danny makes him stand.

Danny is checking if full-stocked-pantry- and-fridge-mom-Steve has everything he needs to cook paella for Nahele, and of course there is. Since Steve started to take seriously the bulk buy and the mega-momma cooking, there’s always lots of food and ingredients in the house. Not to mention the utensils, Steve has developed a compulsion to buy stuff to help him cook. Even if Danny is happy with the sets of nice knives, clean kitchen towels and matching sets of salt and pepper grinders, he has to put a stop at the different bowls sizes his boyfriend wants to buy, _they don’t need a fourteen quartz mixing bowl._

He hears the front door open, and smiles, leaving the chorizo to ‘breathe’ after taking it out of the vacuum seal.

Steve is whispering with Grace, while a sleeping Charlie is enjoying his time in Steve’s arms. He goes upstairs quickly, leaving him in their room because he already knows Charlie likes to have his nap there.

“How was everything?” Danny asks, watching as Steve tucks Charlie in.

“Good, he just asked to hold my hand and sit in my lap when they had to draw blood, but besides that, no problem. They told us he’s really good in his development, that he has the vocabulary and speech capacity of a six years old. He’s still a little short, but his weight is fine. They’ll email us the results and explanations of his exams. The doctor said that he’s almost a hundred percent sure Charlie’s defenses are good, but that we have to be really careful during winter. To expect him to get a nasty cold, but keep an eye on it.”

Danny nods, listening to Steve but watching his sleeping baby. He’s so glad he is out of the woods and alive.

“That’s good, babe. Thanks for taking him. I knew he would feel better with you there.” Steve smiles goofily at him and Danny has to go over there and kiss him. Steve responds in kind, getting their fronts flush together, enjoying the partial intimacy of their bedroom.

“It was my pleasure. He uhm...he introduced me to a nurse as his ‘other daddy’ and I thought I was going to cry,” Steve says, laughing a bit to hide his feelings.

“That’s good, as long as I’m still Danno, we have no problem.” They kiss again, a little more deeply this time, Steve biting Danny’s bottom lip for a few seconds, making sure to leave it red and puffy.

“You will always be our Danno.”

_Ugh, endearing idiot_ , thinks Danny, kissing him again just because he wants to.

“How was your talk with Grace?” Steve asks, keeping him close.

“Better than expected, actually. There were some tears, some Williams shouting, but a good heart to heart nonetheless. I’m proud of her for trusting me with her feelings. She also said Nahele helped her figure out some stuff regarding her mom. So I’m also proud of our boy, too. Hence the reason I was in the kitchen.”

Steve arched one eyebrow. “What are you making?”

“Paella. I think we can all use comfort food today.”

“Amen to that, Danno.”

They are waiting in the lobby for the dessert they ordered to take back home to the kids, they are a little bit too close and handsy to be proper in public, but they’re on their monthly date night, enjoying themselves. They are talking about a lead they are following in a case when they see her.

“Steve! Danny!” Catherine exclaims, happy to see them.

She looks gorgeous, wearing a long red dress, showing off her shoulders and a little cleavage, her dark hair pushed completely to one side. Danny looks at her and whistles, making her blush and laugh at the same time.

“Looking good, Catherine! Long time no see!” Greets Danny, getting closer to her, hugging her carefully.

She also hugs Steve and gives him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“You look beautiful, Cath,” Steve compliments, smiling at her.

“Thanks, you two also look really handsome. I was going to drop by the office tomorrow and say hi to everyone. But this surprise is nice.”

“When did you arrive? How long is your leave?” Asks Steve. Danny frowns, he sounds off.

“I arrived today, a few hours ago. And I’m staying a week, so we have a lot of time to catch up,” she replies happily.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Asks Danny, trying to ignore Steve’s sudden awkwardness and silence.

“Yes, actually. I’m here on a date. And you guys? Double dating again?” Catherine looks at the door for a moment to see if her date arrived, but apparently not because they are the center of her attention again.

“No, surprisingly, Steve and I are-” Danny begins, but Steve interrupts him.

“I have the desserts, c’mon, Danno. Grace and Charlie are waiting for you. It was nice to see you, Cath. Make sure to clear your schedule tomorrow night. Goodbye.”

Steve nearly drags Danny outside, who is too stunned to even say anything. Once he is sitting in the Camaro he looks at Steve like he had grown a second head.

“What's the matter with you?” Danny didn’t want to yell, but he can feel it is a losing battle.

“I didn’t want to spend so much time with my ex, that’s all,” Steve excuses himself lamely.

“Excuse me?” Danny is yelling now. “So that’s why you told her to clear her schedule to spend time with her? Or was it when I was about to say that _you_ and _I_ were on a date with _each other_ when you decided to be uncomfortable? Or was it when you decided to forgo the fact that Grace and Charlie are waiting for both of us and not just me?”

Steve just looks at him, in complete silence. He has that face he always used to have in the past, when he got caught looking at Danny...like he shouldn’t look at men like that. Danny feels like crying, after all this time... it only took three minutes with Steve’s ex-girlfriend to destroy all his progress?

Usually Danny has more patience, and he is more understanding. But today is not the day. And he isn’t going to be Steve’s gay dirty little secret.

“Just drive,” Danny says, and ignores Steve the whole ride home.

Steve looks at him, tries to touch him, but Danny just stays quiet and rejects his advances. He greets Max, thanking him for babysitting the kids. He goes to his bedroom, looking at the bed that Steve and him share every night, where they console their crying children with nightmares, where they watch movies on their laptops, where they make love and hug each other tight every single time. Isn’t that enough for Steve?

Danny doesn’t want to think. He packs a small overnight bag with his work clothes on. He texts Kono to let her know he is taking half the morning tomorrow, and to please don’t call him because he’s in a place with no signal. He scrambles a note to Steve, saying he’s going out for a drink, that he’ll see him tomorrow. And before he turns his phone off he calls Mary so she can pick up the kids and leave them at school.

He can’t be here right now.

He hears Steve calling his name when he goes quickly down the stairs to the front door, but he doesn’t reply. He just gets out and into his car as fast as possible and drives. He drives until he’s in the middle of the most touristic part of Honolulu, somewhere no one will guess he’ll want to go by himself. And just to make sure he goes to a very fancy and flashy hotel, planning on getting wasted on their bar.

He orders two shots of tequila and a glass of whisky.

He drowns the shots quickly, one after the other. Danny feels the burn and sighes, welcoming the warm aftermath. Then he starts to sip on his whisky, and just because he’s not trying to kill himself and forget he’s almost forty, he orders some chips. His stomach is glad with his decision. He watches some football they are broadcasting and orders a second whisky.

“Mind if I join you?” He hears besides him, and turns to see Stan sitting besides him at the bar.

Great.

Danny just moves his hand, Stan can interpret the gesture as he pleases. Apparently he takes it as ‘sit down’, because he sits besides Danny on the bar, ordering a martini.

“Rough night?” Asks Stan, Danny can’t help but smirk.

“You could say that. Hey...maybe you know this… How much is a night in here?”

“For you?” Danny just nods. “Free”

“Free?” Ok, not more whisky, he’s drunk.

“Yeah, I own the place, I’m not going to charge you. Here.” He takes a card out of his wallet. “Just show this in reception and choose a room.”

“Thanks, man.”

“No problem.” Stan looks at his drink. “How are you? How’s your recovery?”

“I’m good, thanks. Besides my knee everything is working fine. What about you?”

“The divorce is killing me slowly. But...you know, one day at a time, I guess,” Stan confesses. Danny feels a pang of compassion towards him.

“Don’t I know it.” Danny smirks, falling into self-deprecation really quickly. “It’ll get worse, but then better. Don’t spend any holidays by yourself, though, that’s my only advice.”

Stan nods and they fall into a comfortable silence. Danny sighs. In what world would he drink besides Rachel’s second ex husband? Just on this island.

A very drunk man wants to start a fight with the bartender who doesn’t want to serve him more drinks, and security quickly takes him out. Danny looks at the time and realizes that is almost two a.m. He groans, thank God he asked for the half morning, he needs at least six hours or he won’t function the next day. He looks at Stan, who’s reading something on his phone, finishing his second martini. Suddenly Danny is really thankful for the man, they didn’t talk much, but his company made him relax.

“I’m calling it,” says Danny, standing up, grabbing his backpack. “Thanks for everything, buddy. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry about it, unless you ask for the presidential suit, we’re all good,” he jokes and Danny laughs.

“I’ll make sure to downsize, then. See you next weekend, right?”

“Yeah, I’m really excited for my time with Charlie.”

“Oh, man. He’s also excited, he talks about it every day.”

Stan smiles.

“That’s good to know. Hey, Danny? I don’t know why you’re here and not in your home, and it’s not my place to judge but...Steve loves you very much, it’s plain to see. You can stay here as long as you want but...if I had a home with someone who loves me like Steve loves you? I’ll be there in a second.”

Danny doesn’t know how to answer, so he just nods, heading to the reception.

With Stan words still circling his mind, and his body automatically going to the left side and making room for Steve, Danny cries a little bit before falling asleep. He thinks about Steve being ashamed of him. Not wanting Catherine to know they are together means all his Navy buddys don’t know they are a couple, either, and that hurts so much. He doesn’t want to hide who he is, or who he loves. He doesn’t want his children to grow in a house where they think they have to be a certain way to be loved and accepted.

But Steve hadn't had the luck that Danny did. His parents are so supportive of him, of his sexuality and all of his partners, no matter the gender. People tend to discriminate him more because of his height or because he was haole than for his sexuality, HPD didn’t mind he was bisexual, they just cared he was white, and that was weirdly relieving.

But not Steve. From his dad to the Navy had fucked him up. He went to therapy so he could be with Danny freely, for God’s sake. What if Danny had jumped to conclusions too quickly? But Steve didn’t say anything to him, dammit!

He cries anyway, because he’s slightly buzzed and misses his boyfriend, who’s ashamed of him, or maybe not, but he misses him anyway.

That’s how he falls asleep.

When Danny wakes up at eight in the morning because his bladder is going to explode, he realizes he pulled a Rachel. And now he’s the one feeling shame.

One of the things that made his relationship with Rachel fail, besides his job, was her tendency to fly when things got complicated. When Danny had problems with his family and needed more than a shoulder to cry on, but a partner to support him and go see his family, Rachel fleed. When they fought, after she finished screaming at him, she’ll leave, not wanting to fix things with him, but disappear and hope things settled down by themselves. 

Danny showers and regrets everything he did after leaving. He’s not excusing Steve’s attitude, oh no, not at all. But they deserve a long and maybe loud talk, where they fix their problems, say sorry, point out some fucked up stuff about each other, say sorry again, have amazing make up sex and then sleep in their own bed.

When he turns his phone back on, the poor thing nearly falls from the nightstand vibrating.

**_118 unread text messages._ **

**_23 missed calls._ **

**_20 voice mails._ **

**_1 Facebook Messenger message._ **

Shit.

The Facebook message pops up in a little circle, with another little red circle on top of it, it shows Grace’s face so he clicks on that first.

_> Take your time, Danno. We love you! But please come back soon. _

And attached to that message, sent this morning, is a selfie of Grace and Mary in her car. In the backseat Charlie and Joanie are touching each other's faces, laughing, Nahele is napping against the window, clutching his backpack.

His heart aches for his babies. How could he leave them? Just like that? Just because he was mad? That’s not an excuse, that’s not the kind of father he wants to be.

< _Danno loves you, monkey._

He replies, and has all the intentions of sending a heart emoji, but he takes too long to find it and he gives up.

115 of the messages are from Steve, one from Kono, another from Chin and Nahele also sent him one.

All of the missed calls are Steve’s.

Kono says:

> _No problem. I’ll kick the boss’ ass when I see him_.

Chin text is about work:

_> HPD send the samples you wanted. Do I send them to the lab? _

Nahele text makes him want to cry all over again, feeling like the worst father in the world:

> _Miss you_.

He breathes a few more times and opens the first of Steve’s hundred and fifteen messages.

> _Did you really just went to have a drink or are you avoiding me?_

_> Answer the phone. I want to talk.   
>Danny, answer the damn phone!_

_> Please...just pick up, ok? _

_> I’ll come get you, baby please pick up. _

_> Danny, I’m sorry. I know I was an asshole. _

_> Come back, so we can talk. _

_> Danny, please. _

_> Danno. _

_> Danny, I’m so sorry, please. I’m sorry.   
>Baby, come home. _

_> Danno!  
>I can’t sleep without you. The bed feels too big.   
>I love you so much, with all my heart, you’re the love of my life.   
>Baby, please, I love you, answer the phone. _

_> Danno, I love you, please tell me you know that. _

_> I can’t sleep, need you by my side. _

And his voice messages are in the same line. First, Steve is pissed, but slowly he gets more and more broken, more and more desperate. Begging Danny to answer the phone. Steve even promises to get a tattoo with Danny’s name so everyone knows they are together but to please come back.

At the end, when he has no notifications left, Danny is crying again.

How could he believe, for one second, that his man didn’t love him? He was an ass, and oftentimes didn’t have the sensitivity of a normal person, but Danny loves him so, so much.

He buys breakfast on the way, making sure not to stain his work shirt, and drives as fast as possible to get to the palace. But when he arrives, Steve is nowhere to be seen. So he goes about his day, thanking Kono for covering him, and going to Chin’s office to work on the samples that would match the fabrics they found in a crime scene with a cocaine ring. Chin is doing some side to side comparison with the tech table when Steve and Lou arrive.

The twenty seconds it takes Steve to approach the table are so long Danny thinks he’ll lose his mind, but when Steve is standing close to him, looking at him shily from behind his eyelashes, like he didn’t want to annoy him, Danny just can’t wait anymore. He holds Steve from the nape of his neck and kisses him deeply, right in the middle of their boardroom, just going for it, needy, desperate, wanting to eat Steve alive and keep him close. Steve’s feeling the same because he hugs him close, so close that Danny can feel how Steve’s thigh is in between his legs and both of his arms are wrapped around his back.

“Wow, wow, wow!” Exclaims Lou, making them break their kiss. “I know Kono was enjoying the show.”

“Hey!” She complains, but then shrugs. “Well…”

“And no one minds an innocent kiss. But keep your tongues out of your mouths, please, keep it professional.” Lou looks at them like they are kids misbehaving.

“Yeah...sorry. Danny, my office?” And they are nearly running to Steve’s office.

“Close the blinds!” Chin reminds them.

And they do that, after that Steve kisses him again. They end up against Steve’s desk, totally blushed and a little bit turned on.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Danno. I’m not ashamed of you, or our family. I got nervous, that’s all. I promise I’m working on it. I’m sorry.” Steve says against his lips.

“I’m sorry for leaving, I should have stayed, and talked but...it doesn’t matter. I love you. I’m sorry. It’s just...it really bothered me when you didn’t want to tell Catherine.”

“It’s ok.” And they are kissing again, breathing harshly against each other's mouth. “Just...I can’t sleep without you, I couldn’t even swim this morning.”

“I don’t believe you,” Danny mumbles, resting his head on Steve's shoulders. “I love you so much, Steve, it’s...you drive me crazy, babe. I just... God, I was such an idiot. Forgive me?”

“Just if you forgive me too. Just promise not to leave. Don’t ever leave, Danny, it felt so fucking bad…”

“I’m never leaving, I won’t do that again. I promise.” Danny pecks him softly. “And I don’t believe you couldn’t swim today, by the way.”

“I swear. And when I was ready to take the kids to school Mary came and took them and...the house felt so empty… and I still couldn’t swim. I...I called Cath, when I was driving here this morning and told her.” Danny just arches one eyebrow, silently asking him to keep talking. “I told her I was bisexual, I told her I was so head over heels in love with you, and that we’re living together, had built a family and that she was welcome to have dinner with us.”

Danny hugs Steve close to him. _God,_ he feels like such an idiot.

“Great summary, babe. Thanks. You know I’m not one of those who can easily hide what they are, or who they love.”

Steve smiles.

“No, Danny. Thank _you_.”

* * *

**Part III**

* * *

Steve knows Danny won’t really stop him, they both like them, but he’ll complain and rant so much that Steve will end doubting everything he wants to do. And this? He doesn’t want to doubt this at all. He just wants to get it done as soon as possible. The fact it took four sessions was too long. Because it meant one week with no intimacy whatsoever and being extra careful to not being naked or seen naked. Also no swimming or running.

He’s been wanting for some new ink for a while, but nothing significant enough came or inspired him to get it tattooed. Until he sees Jerry playing with Grace on his computer.

“What’s that?” Steve asks when he sees the intricate geometrical pattern Grace and Jerry are watching on the screen.

“Is my name!” She exclaims happily.

“How’s that, sweetheart?” Steve asks again.

“Jerry has a program that makes algorithms out of your name and interpretes them into cool shapes.” Grace explains.

“It’s a complex codification system that some friends and I are testing, but it’s old, commonly used, inspired by tribal art,” Jerry explains further.

“And look, I asked uncle Jerry to put all of our names in it. And it’s cool. Show him, please, uncle Jerry.” Grace uses puppy eyes and Steve watches as Jerry writes “GraceCharlieNaheleDannySteve” really quick.

The screen shows a complex geometrical figure composed of squares, triangles and circles, one inside of the other, it’s kind of hiptonic but, as Grace said, really cool. It clicks for Steve immediately.

“Are you certain that that’s how the names of our family looks like, Jerry?” He asks, putting on his Commander face.

“Yes, sir. Otherwise the code will have no sense,” Jerry assures.

“Fine. Mind sending me that?”

But Steve isn’t a hundred percent about that. He liked it, a lot, actually. But something is not right. Not about the tattoo, or about the design, but about the moment. He doesn’t know why but he decides to wait.

Until Nahele drops the bomb.

They are eating dinner, Steve defrosts some squash and chicken soup and puts some bacon bits on top. It is the only way that Charlie wants to eat squash and Steve is happy to comply. Eddie can’t eat it yet but he gets excited with the smell, because he was fully awake and making happy noises.

Danny is making sure everyone takes turns telling them how their day was, and something interesting that happened to them and something sad. Steve just finishes his turn, saying that the case they are working on made him sad because there were a bunch of people who lost family members.

“You, ‘Hele? How was your day?” Promps Danny

“Uhm...I have something to say, actually.” Everyone looks at him. Usually Nahele tries to say little about his day, keeping it short and simple. “My dad is getting out of prison this week and...I decided I don’t really want to be with him. I want to stay. I want to stay here with...my family.”

Silence.

Silence that lasts two seconds because Grace yells excitedly and launches herself at Nahele, hugging him with arms and legs. Danny looks at Nahele, _his boy, his son_ , and he is so unbelievably happy that he tears a little bit, standing up and joining the hug.

“That’s great, honey, we’ll do everything, do you hear me? Everything to keep you here,” promises Danny, grunting when Steve joins the hug and presses everyone together with strength, making them groan.

“That’s great news, buddy,” says Steve, doing everything in his power not to cry, but losing the battle when Nahele smiles at him.

They hug for a long time, Nahele breathing in relief, feeling lighter and more comfortable. His conversation with Grace made him think, and it took some time but he is ready to make a decision. He's staying.

The rest go back to their seat, Danny and Steve talking about everything they have planned so far. In that moment Charlie climbs off his seat and goes to Nahele, climbing over his legs and sitting on his lap with a frown.

“You’re silly, ‘Hele,” Charlie says. Hugging him. “Why would you leave? You’re family, and family doesn't leave. Why would you ask to stay if you are not going anywhere! What are you talking about?”

“You’re right. Family doesn’t leave.” Nahele smiles at Charlie, and the little boy only nods.

“Silly big brother,” he mumbles, climbing back down and going back to his seat. “I don’t want more soup,” Charlie complains.

Steve just looks at them.

Happy.

Steve smiles. This was the perfect reason to get the tattoo.

And that’s how Steve gets an appointment to get that tattooed on his lower back. But it was so complex, and his tattoo artist was such a perfectionist, that it takes triple the time Steve planned.

“How much longer? I have to be back at work at two, no one will buy that my meeting with the governor was this long,” Steve complains.

“Tattoos are forever, Steve, they take time to make, just chill. I’m almost done,” reprimands Yukiro, his tattoo artist. His sister, Aya, who’s also a tattoo artists, is watching amused.

“Perfection takes time,” assures Aya, nodding.

“That’s right. Besides,” Yukiro is doing the fading of the orange color Steve wants in the ropes that surround the outer circle. Steve has enormous pain tolerance but...that part is no joke. “I don’t know why you’re hiding this from your man in the first place.”

“It's a surprise,” Steve grunts. 

“Getting the names of your kids, a classic. I think it’s cute.” Yukiro wipes Steve’s lower back. “All done, Commander. You know the drill: try not to drink, no scratching, lots of moisturizing, no sea water or pool, no sweat. Don’t touch it with dirty hands. Wash just with water and soap in the shower…”

Steve is still feeling a little sore when he arrives at the office, and is careful to sit down. He’s in the middle of some email reading when Danny enters his office without knocking.

“Be honest with me for a second, will you?” Asks Danny, and Steve would have joked about it but he looks nervous.

“Sure, whats up?”

“Are you having problems with the radiation poisoning again?”

Steve blinks, looking at Danny. Perplexed.

“What?”

“Are you, Steven Jack McGarrett, having radiation poisoning issues again?” Danny asks again, slower, using his joined hands to accentuate every word, looking at him without blinking.

“No.” He says honestly. Confused. “Why?”

“It’s friday, and this week you’ve disappeared monday morning, wednesday morning, yesterday you arrived way too late from your therapy and now you were out this morning. And I know you weren’t with the governor because I fucking asked! You’ve been sleeping in your front, things you do when your back hurts or your reflux bothers you. And when did that happen before? When you had issues with radiation. You’re sleeping in pants with no complaints. When was the last time that happened, Steven? That’s right. Radiation poisoning! You’re not swimming, or running. And now I think about it we haven’t had sex in a week. So, you are sick and have been to the doctor...and…”

“How can you possibly think about the worst case scenario all of the time?” Steve says, amused. He is so in love with his detective. “I promise it’s not radiation poisoning, or problems with _my_ liver. I swear. Think again, baby. I’ll give you another shot.”

“Steve...did...did you get a new fucking tattoo?” 

“A tattoo, uh?” Steve smirks.

“Or a prince Albert piercing, but I’m aiming for the first one, because I know you only trust the Kinoshita siblings with your ink, and they work on the days you have been absent, and they do late afternoons for their old clients on thursday. And knowing you...you got a big piece in your lower back to cover up that ugly ass one you hate! That’s why you’re wearing pants to sleep!”

“Wait, wait, wait. How did you know all of that?” Steve looks at him suspiciously.

“First, I’m a great detective, thank you very much. My work is to know stuff. Second, I know all of that when because _I asked_ when we went to have our hands tattooed. Third, I know you, babe.”

Steve smiles at him. He looks for Jerry’s email when he sent him the picture and he shows it to Danny.

“It’s all of our names...I decided to get it after Nahele said he wanted to stay with us…”

“You’re a softy, McGarrett,” Says Danny, kissing his temple. “Don’t scare me like that again, ok? And I’ll help you dress it while it’s still healing.”

“I’m just happy we have all of our children together.”

It’s a week after that when Steve receives the call that Nahele’s dad got detained again, the day after he got released. He tried to rob an elderly couple of tourists on the beach, but the old lady was a taekwondo black belt and kicked his ass. He broke his parole immediately and it’s back inside, hearing pendant.

They tell Nahele the same day, and the boy just nods. Hours after Steve catches him talking with Grace on the lanai.

“How’s he?” Asks Steve, sitting besides Grace when Nahele leaves to work on his homework.

“He feels guilty by the relief it gives him knowing his dad is still in jail. I can’t say more.” Grace says, shrugging.

“That’s ok. I just...worry.”

“You’ve spent too much time with Danno,” she jokes, and Steve laughs.

“Maybe…” Steve looks at her directly. “And how are you?”

“Better. Being surrounded by so much love sure helps to make you less angry and less afraid,” Grace tells him, but she’s looking at the ocean. “So thank you for that, Uncle Steve.” She turns to look at him and smiles, her eyes sad but peaceful at the same time. “I think I’m ready to call her. I even might...do it by myself…”

_Rachel_...

“I won’t tell anyone. And if I leave my phone unlocked in the kitchen while I go to the bathroom and someone decides to make a call...I won’t mind.”

Grace just smiles again.

Steve remembers her words for a long time, even when he’s in bed curled into Danny’s chest. Being surrounded by love really helps.

“Where’s your dad?” Asks Steve when he enters the house. The Camaro isn’t parked outside and he worries a little bit. Everyone inside is...calm and doing their own thing. Eddie comes to him like a lightning bolt, begging to be petted. Grace is doing homework in the reading room and Nahele is stretched on the sofa with Charlie on top of him, they’re watching Tom & Jerry. Danny is nowhere to be seen.

“Went to the store, said we’re out of canned tomatoes,” Replies Nahele.

“And who’s taking care of you?” Steve is pacing the living room, trying to see if someone is there babysitting them, preferably Kono, but even Toast would do this time.

“‘Hele is babysitting! Danno said he was big enough to be alone for twenty minutes,” Says Charlie, climbing off Nahele and heading his way, hugging him. Charlie goes back to the sofa quickly, he doesn’t want to miss his cartoons. Eddie follows him, sitting in his lap.

“What?” Steve must have heard wrong.

“Yeah. He was really upset by the tomatoes, you know how he gets. But didn’t want to postmate them.”

“I know, they always mess up his orders on tomatoes. He’s really sensitive about it…” Says Steve.

“So I offered to watch everyone. I’m done with my homework, helped Grace to get hers started and already gave Charlie his snack.” Nahele smiles insecurely at him, like fearing he did something wrong.

“You’re so big, already!” Steve complains, hugging him with one arm, kissing his temple. “Stop growing up.”

Nahele laughs.

“Hear me out. Half an hour is perfectly fine for you to take care of your younger siblings. But if it ever gets longer than that, call Kono, or Chin, you know the drill. Mary, Max and Jerry are good options too,” Steve says. “I saved their numbers on your phone.”

“What about Uncle Toast?” Asks Charlie, pouting. “He promised to teach me how to find my school books online so I could read them on Grace’s iPad for free!”

Steve can’t understand the bond between Toast and Charlie, but the man is actually nice with his youngest. And he has never broken the rule of smoking in the house, or doing any kind of drugs.

“Only if no one, but no one, is available, you can call Toast. Do you understand?” He says to Nahele, and he nods dutifully, like recieving a very important mission. “That’s my boy.”

He checks up on Grace, who’s really frustrated but otherwise fine.

He’s about to get into his room when he hears the Camaro park outside and Danny running to the house. He clearly hears how he yells ‘Is everyone alive?!’. Steve smirks and goes inside, he wants to wear something more comfortable.

He’s scrolling through facebook when Danny enters the room. He’s wearing his NPD sweats and Steve’s Navy hoodie.

“I love it when you wear that hoodie,º” Steve says, smiling at him.

Danny kisses him sweetly, sitting besides him on the bed.

“Marshmallow SEAL.” He laughs. “I love wearing it, so it’s hardly a chore.”

They kiss again. It’s thursday. A long day for Steve. He just wanted to come home and be with his family.

“So, Nahele is our new babysitting option?”

“Look. It was an emergency. I wanted to make fresh salsa for Nahele’s birthday next weekend but you used all of my tomatoes for your freezer meals! And the amount of salsa we need takes a long time to make. And no son of mine is going to eat store bought salsa for his 16th birthday. So I thought, given he is nearly sixteen and all that, and he proposed it!...I thought it would be fine. And I was quick. So don’t you dare tell me anything.”

“I wasn’t going to!” Steve defends himself. “Jesus, Danny. I didn’t say a thing and you’re already attacking me. What happened in the store? You couldn’t find your tomatoes?”

“I was just stating a fact. And I did find all my tomatoes, thank you so much for caring.”

“It didn’t sound like a fact, it sounded like you were accusing me of doing something that has never happened.” Steve raises his eyebrows.

“But it could. I know you’ll do the same.” Danny accuses him.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” Danny points at him.

“I wouldn’t do something like that. I would have found a solution,” Steve retorts.

“Oh, yes? Please, enlighten me,” Danny mocks, and stands up in front of Steve.

“I would have taken the kids with me,” Steve says like it’s no big deal.

“All three kids? What about Eddie? Did you forget our two months old dog who cries to hell and back whenever he is alone?” Danny crosses his arms in front of his chest.

“Of course. Everyone fits in the Silverado. I’ll put Eddie in the back and just use his leash to secure him,” Steve says matter of factly.

“Well, mister, no all of us have the need to overcompensate and have big stupid cars!”

“I’m all willing to swap with you. Hand over the Camaro.” Steve smiles at him but he blinks quickly, realising something Danny said. “Did you just imply I have a small dick?”

“That’s all you take from what I said. don’t you? I can’t believe you!” Danny buffs.

“Do you think I have a small dick?” Asks Steve shily, his voice soft, suddenly very self conscious.

“Steven, are you being serious right now?” Asks Danny, and the only answer he gets is Steve not looking at him and biting his lips. 

Danny sighs and sits down again, close to Steve. He hugs the other man’s waist and rests his head on Steve’s shoulder.

“You don’t have a small cock, babe. Everything about you is perfect, and I love it. I love you.” Danny kisses Steve’s neck. “I repeat it for the peanut gallery in your brain: everything in your body is the size it’s supposed to be. And you know very well how to use every part of your body in magnificent ways. Don’t worry about that. You have no reason to feel insecure. Except your height...because you’re freakishly tall.”

Steve smiles a little bit, and Danny relaxes.

They still have some mishaps along the way. But Danny is nothing but dedicated to eradicate everything that makes Steve not love himself. And speaking of which…

“How was therapy today, babe?” Asks Danny, standing up and picking his phone from the dresser.

“Good, pretty good. Dr. Hapai said that I have made good progress and that I’m ready to move to counseling with her. But we need to take a break. She said we needed some time, because it’s healthy if we take a break in between therapies.” Steve explains.

“Did your therapist break up with you?” Danny can’t help but laugh a little.

“Yeah, something like that.” Steve chuckles, too. “Four weeks and we can re-schedule.”

Danny nods and walks until he’s standing in between Steven’s legs. He takes Steve’s face between his hands and kisses him soundly on the lips.

“I’m proud of you, Steve. You have accomplished so much. And I’m even more in love with this man I’ve come to know and live with.”

Steve beams at him, and hugs him close, resting his forehead against Danny’s stomach.

“I think starting therapy was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I didn’t even want to be there at the beginning, but it really helped me, and changed my life. Without that, I don’t think we could be here. And you guys are my world, so look how bad I was,” Steve declares, honesty filling his words. “I have a freezer lasagna in the outside freezer that I was saving for a celebration. Maybe we should celebrate the fact that I’m done with therapy, for now.”

“That, my friend is a fantastic idea.”

“And...because we’re hosting Nahele’s birthday, I think I’m ready to go over my dad’s stuff and clean the garage.”

“Are you serious?” Danny asks carefully.

“Yes, I talked with Mary on my way back home. I think it’s time. She’s coming over to help me with the garage. Plus, I promised some lasagna to my niece.”

“Thank God for therapy, then,” says Danny, bending down to kiss him again.

Steve is hesitant to start the garage, but once Mary and him start, they don’t stop. It doesn’t take that long. Just like three or four hours.

What shocks Steve isn’t the amount of time they spend sorting through their dad’s thing, but the amount there was left.

One little plastic box, the size of a shoebox, is what is left from his dad. An old notebook filled with phone numbers of family members they don’t know but wish to contact some day, a tie, some medals, a gold coin, some random pictures, a bunch of cassettes and another recorder. His mom's belongings are even smaller, Mary and him decide that, for the good of their mental health, they’ll burn it. They just save some gold earrings that Mary wants to see if it can be made into another gold coin, to join the first one.

After Mary is gone, all the kids are in bed, and after Danny also announces he is going to sleep, Steve is still sitting on the cold floor of the garage, listening to his dad’s tape. They are from his olders days as a police officer, like his personal diary. Those tapes don’t talk about his mom’s case, or his investigation, but rather about his normal life and how he wishes he could live it with his family. Normal bits of being a cop.

At some point Eddie comes to make him company, licking at his hands and dropping into his lap, happy to be close to him. Steve caresses his back while listening closely to what his dad has to say.

And suddenly, one of the fragments calls his attention.

_Talking about guidance..._

_A few months ago I got a trainee, a rookie, fresh from the academy. Last friday we took him on our first ride. We had to go to a house because there were some gunshot sounds, reported by the neighbors. A suicide. Young kid, devastated parents. The kid was gay, they didn’t take it very well when he came out to them. Decided it was better to end his life. The letter said that some police officers molested him, saying that fags should be put down by the police. The letter said names and a car plate. There's an investigation now in HPD. They were friends of mine._

_Today I was informed the kid I was training with my partner wanted a change of partners. The letter he sent to my captain said he was an openly homosexual man, and he didn’t want to be paired up with someone who could shoot him instead of the bad guys just because he liked other men._

_(Silence, a sigh, a deep breath.)_

_Is that what they think of me?_

_That I would kill another person because they are gay?_

_I know I messed up. I know I had bad opinions and a broken mentality back in the day, and God knows my children had to pay for it, but things have changed. I’m not the same man I was before._

_That rookie reminded me of my kids._

_I would never know if they liked boys or girls because I made sure they could never tell me. And just like that rookie, when I pushed them away...they took the chance and ran far away._

_I’m also thinking about that kid who killed himself._

_I don’t want to think about being in their parents shoes._

_What would I have done?_

_(A sad chuckle.)_

_Maybe I would have acted like an asshole at first. But I’ll never stop loving my kids, no matter who they love. If that were the case...I’ll still be proud of Mary...of Steve._

_It doesn’t matter anymore. I fucked up more than I should. But I’m sure Deb did a good job. Better than I would have done._

Steve stops the audio and just looks at the recorder.

He can’t believe what he just heard. But it is unmistakable his dad’s voice. 

After all this time.... would he really be proud of him? Even if he was with a man?

He laughs.

He laughs because he doesn’t need it.

It took some time, heavy sessions with Dr. Hapai, and more intimate conversations with Danny, but he was finally happy with the way he was, with whom he loved, and the family he built. He realized he doesn’t need his father’s approval to exist, and he’s been living that life for quite some time. And he’s happy with it.

But he wants it so bad that it makes him elated with happiness. So he laughs, happily, stroking Eddie’s back, and cries a little bit, because there is no shame in wanting to be loved by your parents.

“You all right, babe? Not going nuts down here laughing alone with the dog because of ghost jokes, right?” Danny appears at the door, worried.

“Hey, Danny.” Steve is smiling, tears still wet on his cheeks.

“What happened?”

Steve drops the recorder in the box carefully. He stands up, Eddie under one arm, box in the other and, without losing his balance, he shelves the box and goes to Danny, kissing him on the forehead.

“The garage is finally clean,” He says as an explanation.

Danny just looks at him for a few seconds, then takes his face between his hands and cleans his cheeks, drying them with his thumbs.

“Yeah?”

“Yes, baby, everything is all nice and clean. Nothing to worry about anymore.”

Danny nods, and petting Eddie who’s sleeping like dead, he goes back inside. Steve follows him, smiling still.

Finally everything is completely clean.

The house is quiet.

The house is so quiet and calm you can hear the sound of the crashing waves. Steve and Danny are so shocked by the discovery that they just sit down in the living room, not knowing what to do.

It’s the first time they are completely alone since everything started. No Grace, no Nahele, no Charlie, not even Eddie is there.

“Let me check. We have no kids, or pet, or work to do until Sunday night when Stan comes to drop Charlie off and Mary brings Nahele and Grace with Eddie. Am I right?” Asks Danny, frowning.

“That’s right, Danno,” Steve confirms.

“We have the house to ourselves for nearly thirty six hours?”

“Aha.”

“Oh babe,” says Danny, touching Steve’s tight, suggestively. “You know what that means?”

And Steve’s answering grin is so devilous that Danny can’t help but shiver.

Twenty minutes later they are out of their work clothes.

Dressed in comfy sweatpants and baggy t-shirts, they drink a beer with their feet up on the coffee table, watching the game while eating a pizza each.

Nahele’s birthday was a blast, but Danny is too old for everything they did last week: spend all friday night decorating the house, partying on saturday for nearly twelve hours, spending all sunday cleaning and waking up early on monday to go chase some nutcracker who stole fifty million dollars from the Bank of Hawaii and decided to stay in the island.

Danny doesn’t regret a thing.

He nearly collapses when they catch the bad guys after four days of non stop investigation with little to no sleep. But every time he looks at his phone and sees his wallpaper picture (Grace, Nahele and Charlie laughing in their backyard, everyone with a little bit of cake on their faces and wearing birthday cone hats) he feels renewed. Or not as shitty has he could really feel. Even more when he’s screensaver is a sleepy Steve kissing Eddie’s head, while the dog is sleeping on his chest.

So they watch their game. When it’s over they try to watch another, but end up falling asleep, Steve on Danny’s chest. They nap until it's well past dinner time. After waking up and drinking a cup of coffee, Steve suggests going to a new sushi place. They shower together and decide to dress nicely, which makes them lose some thirty minutes in an unprompted make out session on the stairs.

It’s fantastic.

When they arrive they’re surprised to find the place is not full, just a small group of people scattered around the tables.

“Just you and your friend?” The host asks Steve.

“Just me and my boyfriend, yes,” Steve clarifies, and Danny feels like he won a million dollars, hugging Steve’s waist.

The host just smiles politely at them and guides them to a seat that’s facing the ocean. They eat, chat, laugh, joke and eat some more. They decide that the sushi was good but the ceviche is not their strong point. They talk about the peruvian place that has better ceviche, and Steve is pleased to remember that information about Danny’s taste.

It’s just eleven o'clock when they arrive back home, and decide to just go to sleep because _they can_ , and that feeling is amazing. Danny wakes up because Steve is having a nightmare, and he shakes him awake. Luckily Steve doesn’t remember anything about the dream, and they up having frantic and loud sex, followed by sweet and equally loud love making. Things you can’t do in a house with three kids.

They stay in bed until noon the next day.

“I love you, so, so much, Danny. And I love spending time with you…” Starts Steve, giving him a pointed look.

“Love you too, babe. But?”

“But… I miss the kids like crazy. We had an amazing night, and I think we should have time for ourselves like that more often but…”

“Twenty four hours without them it’s too much?” Asks Danny, with an understanding look in his eyes.

Danny sighs in what Steve thinks is relief, and then he smiles at him, his bright blue eyes shining beautifully.

“Yeah.”

“Shit, Steve. I’m right there with you. What do you say we go pick up our oldest at Mary’s and bring them back to wait for Charlie?”

Steve doesn’t say anything, he just stands up and grabs the keys of the Camaro. And, like a lot of times in their lives, Danny just follows Steve, trusting his partner understands what he wants to do. 

Grace and Nahele are surprised but happy to see them, hugging them close. Grace talks about everything they did, Nahele doesn’t say much, but nods and makes appropriate noises to add to Grace's story. Joanie is sad because Charlie is not there with them, but she calms down sitting in Danny’s lap and eating a piece of pineapple, because _that’s what Charlie would do, Uncle Danny_.

Once back home, Steve heats one of his freezer shepherd's pie, and Danny makes sure Grace and Nahele have their homework done and their clothes clean.

When Charlie arrives he is still excited and buzzed about his weekend with his dad. During dinner he’s still so pumped that Danny has to remind him to keep eating his food every five minutes because the little boy gets so excited narrating his weekend that he forgets to eat. Everyone thinks it’s cute, so they aren’t really mad at him for taking double the amount of time to finish his food. Later, much later, after Charlie bathes and helps Eddie with his legs exercises, he begs Steve to read him a story, one with sharks.

When Steve thinks Charlie is finally asleep, he tucks the comforter around his little frame, and kisses his temple.

“Uncle Steve?” Mumbles Charlie, sleepily.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Can everyone go with me next time I’m with daddy? That would be so cool…” Charlie says, before falling completely asleep.

And when he tells that to Danny, when both of them are in bed, Steve pretends to ignore his partner’s glassy eyes.

Danny wishes he could live in this moment. But he can’t. He knows he can’t, because on wednesday it’s the final hearing and he can lose everything. Danny knows that the only thing keeping him together right now is Steve.

Tonight could be his last weekend with his kids. And that brings fears he can’t control. The obvious love between the kids and Steve, _their other dad, goddamnit_ , it’s the trigger that pushes all of his fear on top of his skin. He’s not the only one who’ll lose them, Steve will be childless too, and Danny can’t bear that thought.

Steve feels that, and hugs him closer, letting Danny cry on his shoulder.

Wednesday arrives so quickly Danny is surprised. Maybe it’s because of the terrible case they get the minute they arrive at the office. Or it is because some fucker shoots Steve in the arm and brakes it.

Worrying about his partner sures makes time fly.

But he’s here, in court, again. His lawyer, Stan, Stan’s lawyer and the prosecutor sitting on the same table. The first row of seats is cleared and reserved for the witnesses, so Steve can’t sit right behind Danny.

The hearing is long, really long. Even Mrs. Koalakoa and Officer Perez make an appearance as witnesses, they are in charge to deliver the kids statement and their current status. Sergeant Duke Lukela also testifies. The prosecutor talks so much that Danny gets dizzy, and that’s a record. Rachel’s lawyer also talks a lot, and Danny tries not to pay too much attention, besides confirming that they went with the “Rachel acted as a first responder” line of arguments.

It’s almost five hours, full of testimonies, declarations, papers, police investigation summaries and a lot of images of the kids and Danny’s blood gathered on the floor. But the judge is ready to dictate the sentence.

“...and after all the evidence I declare Rachel Hollander non guilty of the charges of attempted second degree murder with premeditation, there’s no verdict proof besides especulation to testify otherwise. Instead, this court finds you guilty of aggravated assault and very serious injuries, you must pay the costs of the treatment and hospitalization to Mr. Williams and also a compensation of twenty thousand dollars for the assault; you also have the prohibition to get closer to Mr. Williams, or his house, or his workplace, without his explicit permission. The method of payment can be discussed with Mr. Williams' attorney. Besides that, you’re mandated to take classes in anger management and dealing with frustration. Now, regarding the charges of child neglect and child abandonment this court finds you guilty in the first and non guilty in the second. The primary custody of the minors will stay in Mr. Williams' possession.”

Danny feels so relieved he melts in his seat, sighing loudly. He doesn’t care about the money or the hospital debts, he has his kids. _They_ still have _their_ kids with them.

“Mrs. Hollander, your visitation rights will be returned. A weekend twice a month in alternated weeks, and two weekday visitation in alternation with the previous visits. No restriction in phone calls. Holidays, birthdays and long weekends can be arranged between the two parents, the lawyers or mediated with the social worker Mrs. Koalakoa. In regards to the demands of Mr. Edwards, Rachel Hollander will have to pay a compensation of a hundred thousand dollars. This court can’t, by any law or amendment, grant visitation rights to someone who is not the biological father or the registered father of one of the minors. But, this court doesn’t prohibit you, Mr. Edwards, from talking or arranging supervised visitations with Mr. Williams.”

The judge sighes and then smiles.

“Being two twelve in the evening, this case is closed.”

Danny nearly splints to Steve’s, and the other man is already on his way to him. They clash together, hard, not minding Steve’s broken arm, and they hug tightly, clenching their hands into each other’s bodies.

“They’re staying, babe,” Danny says between sobs, kissing Steve neck. He can’t stop crying, but he can’t stop smiling either. “No one is taking them from us. They are staying for good...all of them.”

Steve just nods, wanting to melt against Danny, be one with the man he loves, rejoice forever in the ineffable feeling of knowing their family is intact, undestroyed...together.

Steve kisses him in the middle of the courtroom. He takes Danny’s face carefully in between his hands, looking at him in the eyes. He loves this man with his life. Danny gave him everything, a reason to stay in his home, a reason to keep fighting, to come back. Danny gave him a reason to be himself. Danny gave him a family.

And now Steve gets to keep them.

“I told you everything will be alright,” Steve says against Danny’s temple.

Danny laughs, relaxing into Steve, letting every single one of his worries leave his body. There, with a paper that guarantees that his kids will be under his care, Danny feels safe. Here, supported by his lover, surrounded by his arms, Danny feels calm. And the knowledge that he has a home, a real home, not a rental, not a shithole, but his own home that Steve decides to share with him and build for him and with him, Danny feels peace. 

“Don’t make me fight with you in the middle of the courtroom, babe. Just…just let’s go home. Then we can pick up the kids and celebrate.”

“Celebrate?” Steve asks, smiling like the dork he is. Danny rolls his eyes but it doesn’t work as always because he can’t stop smiling.

“First our celebration, then…then we celebrate with our daughter and sons.”

And just saying that makes him feel like the luckiest son of a bitch in the world, so much he kisses Steve again, all tongue and dirtiness, so deep he can feel Steve’s little moan of pleasure against his lips before he hears it. Steve just nods, giving up the fight. They go back to the car still touching each other and kiss like teenagers inside the Camaro for fifteen minutes. Driving home is a hassle, because they can’t stop touching each other, or kissing at every red light.

They make it to the bedroom just because they don’t want to potentially traumatize their children.

Danny is mesmerized by Steve’s beauty, his muscles, his tattoos, his lean and really defined abs, he could spend hours admiring his body. But apparently Steve’s not on the same page today, because he bites Danny’s jaw and drapes his naked body on top of him and Danny is all aboard with moving things along. He knows Steve finds him attractive, his partner has spent a good amount of time whispering dirty talk in his ear about what he thinks about his body when they make love. But today is not the day, apparently.

Being one with Steve is so pleasurable and fulfilling he ends up crying again, because he’s happy, so in love, so grateful, so fucking happy and full of emotions he just lets go. The fact that Steve is also crying after his orgasm also helps to just…cry.

Danny doesn’t know how much time he spends just lying there, still breathing heavily against Steve's chest, his whole body covered in a thin sheet of sweat, sticky all over his groin. He starts to get connected to reality once again when Steve starts to talk.

“When I was twenty I was with a girl who cried after sex. I felt so awkward that I left her there and ran. I kind of felt embarrassed, I didn’t understand…God, I was so dumb.”

Danny laughs, agreeing, but also finding the image of a young naïve Steve really endearing.

“Then we had some classes about human psychology during my training, and I understood what an asshole I was…”

“Understandment of the century,” mumbles Danny and Steve slaps his butt softly.

“I’m trying to _share_ , Danny,” Steve says in a pitched tone. “Do you want to know my story about crying after sex?”

“Sorry, babe. Please, keep going. I want to know.”

“Well…it never happened again until…until it happened to me. The first time I cried ever after making love was with you. And God, Danny. I’m so glad it was you.”

Danny lifts himself on his elbows, looking at Steve carefully. He touches his lover's face, and cleans his wet cheeks, Steve returns the gesture.

“I love you, Steve.”

“I love you.” And Steve kisses him again. “Even if you cry more than me.”

“You’re still an asshole, McGarrett.”

Steve calls Mary to inform her that they’re going to pick up Charlie this evening. The three of them have lettuce wraps for lunch and Charlie gets some shark gummies for dessert, he’s really happy.

At three they go pick up Grace and Nahele. They drive to that ice cream place with the pineapple bowls, they find a table and start to look at the menu when Danny takes Charlie in his arms and asks Grace to meet him outside for a while. Steve stays with Nahele looking at the menu.

Danny tells them carefully everything that happened. Grace has mixed feelings, so she doesn’t say anything, just nods. She promised she is ok, better than ok, but it is a lot to take in.

Charlie doesn’t quite understand what is happening, but he is glad to see his mommy again and gets excited for the prospect of spending time with her, and also getting to keep his bedroom in his house.

Danny hugs Grace, who hugs him back, and they spend a few seconds just embracing.

When they go back inside, Danny finds a watermelon halved and filled with ice-cream on the table.

“I told him you would get mad,” says Nahele. “I tried to get him to order the pineapples, but he did it anyway. I got him to order just one, though!”

Danny groans, Charlie jumps from his arms, called by the ice cream, and Grace laughs, happy to have ice cream.

Danny can’t complain too much, the ice cream is delicious and his family…all together as they should be.

It happens during one of _those_ days when no one can take care of the kids.

Some crazy drug dealer kidnaps a whole family to negotiate his exit from the island. Five-0 finds him but he manages to escape. In the time it took them to find him again he barricades himself with a family of six, two adults, and four children, one of them was a newborn.

Kono, Chin and Lou can’t babysit because they are in the middle of the hostage negotiation, obviously. Jerry is elbow deep in the case, controlling all the calls incoming and outcoming of the field. Mary is working, Hawaiian winter making the older people seek assistance more than ever, so she can’t take off work.

So obviously _it_ happens when Toast is babysitting.

Danny has his phone off, but Steve, who always has his phone on, and always picks up when a number is on his “green list”, gets the call.

“Hey, Commander.”

“Something happened to the kids, Toast?” Asks Steve, scared, all nerves on point due to the situation.

“Nah, brah, they’re all right. It’s just…a lady came by. Koalakoa…she says it’s an emergency, “urgent” was the word she used. So…I don’t know, call her I guess.” And Toast hangs up.

Steve is debating what to do when he hears a scream and someone is shouting “man down, man down”, and he gets into SEAL mode and forgets about everything.

It takes them hours but, at three in the morning, the little newborn puked on top of the drug dealer, causing an enough distraction to make the man move in front of a window. Lou gives the order and in one second two snipers are shooting.

Steve makes sure that everyone is all right, and follows HPD to the hospital to make sure their prisoner can’t escape again.

When he gets into the Camaro to join Danny and finally go home, his lover is frowning at his phone, and he’s sitting really still.

“What happened? Did Toast help Nahele with his Economics homework again and you’re jealous?”

“No, just with math. Don’t distract me! I have ten missed calls from Mrs. Koalakoa and it’s too late to call her back.” Danny is still frowning.

“Shit.” Steve remembers Toast’s call, and takes his phone out of his pocket and checks. Just like he fears, he also has ten missed calls from the social worker.

“You too?” Asks Danny, Steve nods, biting his lip.

“Toast called when we were in the middle of the negotiation. He said that Mahina went to the house and asked for us, saying it was urgent.”

“Shit,” replies Danny. “Look…it has nothing to do with the well-being of the kids, if that were the case, she would have sent Officer Perez to the field today, and that didn’t happen. Everyone we care about is safe, otherwise these pictures Toast sent me of the kids behaving are photoshopped. Let’s…let’s worry about this in the morning, after sleeping.”

“Yeah.” Steve agrees but the weird feeling doesn’t go away.

Toast is working on his laptop with headphones on when they arrive. The house looks exactly how they left it in the morning and they can’t smell any pot, even the dishes are clean. Besides the impromptu visit of Mrs. Koalakoa nothing happened. Toast leaves quickly in an uber.

They check up on the kids, making sure they are asleep. Then, Danny and Steve shower together because they need to feel close after the tiresome day, and fall asleep quickly, Steve spooning Danny, keeping him really close.

Steve stirs when he hears a knock on the door, and someone calling their name softly.

“’Hele?” He mumbles, still curled around Danny’s back.

“Yeah…uhm…Mrs. Koalakoa it’s here, she said she needs to talk with both of you.”

It’s six thirty, not even two hours of sleep and he’s still too tired, but he pushes himself up, using all of his years of training to sit up on the bed, making Danny groan at the loss of contact.

“Tell her we’ll be right there, buddy.”

“Ok.”

Danny is already awake, but he’s not moving, his eyes are bloodshot because of the lack of sleep, resting on his back and looking at the ceiling, questioning every single decision that put him in this place today. He just wants to sleep in, don’t send the children to school, spend the time being grateful that they are not kidnapped and nearly killed, but after eight hours of sleep. Not like this.

Steve dresses quickly, the weird feeling in his stomach making him forget his initial tiredness. Danny doesn’t bother dressing, he just makes sure he doesn’t have a morning wood, because that happens sometimes when he sleeps really close to Steve, and goes to wash his face. If what Mrs. Koalakoa has to say it is so important that she arrives at six thirty at their house, she won’t mind if he's still wearing pajamas.

It’s annoying how put together the social worker looks, wearing another tailored two piece outfit, clean shiny shoes, make up and rested face. But she’s not smiling, she has a serious face, and that worries Danny. Steve is already there with her, talking.

“Maybe we should go to the reading room, and close the door, I don’t know how you want to deliver this information,” she says, so they move.

Finally, with a cup of coffee each and the sliding doors of the reading room closed, Mahina puts on top of the table the folder she was carrying, opening it, showing them a report of HPD.

“Kaili Huikala died yesterday afternoon in a bus explosion. He was being transported with other prisoners to a new sector of the precinct…someone planted a bomb in the bus and ten of the twelve passengers died, including the driver and one police officer.”

Steve takes the report, sees the names of every deceased person, including Nahele’s dad, the pictures of the calcined bus, witnesses names and some possible leads to investigate. He can feel Danny peering over his shoulder. There’s pictures of the bodies, identified, and Steve searches for Kaili’s one just to make sure. Once he finds it, he carefully hides it between the stack of other pictures.

“I tried to contact you, when no one picked up the phone I went to the Iolani Palace but the place was deserted. I came here, and Andrew Charles received me, he didn’t remember me but I was in training when my guide social worker was on his case when he became an orphan. He explained you were busy working, then Officer Perez informed me of the hostage situation.”

“Where is he?” Asks Danny.

“He’s in the FDC morgue, they are waiting on Nahele to know what to do. I didn’t want to inform him without you here, but it’s best if we do it quickly because there’s a lot of things to arrange.”

Steve nods, and looks at Danny, who has a pensive look on his face.

“There’s space to bury him besides Nahele’s mom but I don’t know what he’ll want to do…” Says Danny.

“Well…we were planning on not sending the kids to school today, so it works for us.”

“Shit, Steve. We were going to keep them here to have fun and a family day after the disaster of yesterday, not to confront a loss in the family.” Danny exclaims as he covers his mouth with both hands.

“I know, Jesus, Danny. No need to snap,” Steve retorts.

Danny sighs.

“Sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to…it’s just…this is really fucked up. How do you think he’s going to react?”.

“I don’t know. His relationship with his dad was conflicted enough.”

“Gentlemen,” says Mrs. Koalakoa. “There’s another issue we have to discuss. Now, Nahele is officially an orphan. Legally…he can stay here, nothing has to change, you’re officially his foster family, but now he can be adopted. And I don’t want to tiptoe around it, so I’ll just say it: I think that it’s in Nahele’s best interest that you adopt him.”

Danny and Steve blink.

“Do we have to make that decision right now?” Asks Steve.

“No, it can wait. But I need you to think about it.”

They both nod at the same time. Mrs. Koalakoa decides to leave them to deliver the news to Nahele, and to please call her when they need to start making arrangements for the burial or whatever Nahele wants to do with his dad, even If he doesn’t want to do anything.

Charlie is, magically, still asleep, so they call Nahele downstairs. They make him sit down in between the two of them and Danny looks at Steve to signal he should be the one talking.

“We have some bad news about your dad.” Steve clears his throat and looks at Nahele directly. “He passed away yesterday afternoon. There was an explosion in the bus he was riding to change locations in prison. There’s an investigation going on, to find what happened but…your dad didn’t make it.”

Nahele looks at his hands for a long while, breathing deeply, varely blinking.

“Did he suffer?” He asks, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean, buddy?” Answers Danny.

“Did he die instantly or did he suffer before dying?” Nahele asks again.

“He sat above the bomb, he died instantly. No suffering,” says Steve.

Nahele nods, slumping down against the couch. A shaky breath leaves his mouth and then he’s crying silently. Steve feels his heart break when his boy cries, so he scoops him into his arms, hugging him tight. Nahele hugs back, crying against Steve’s shoulder. Danny caresses his back, murmuring soft comforting things.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” mumbles Nahele after a while.

“He was still your dad, there’s nothing wrong with crying about it.”

Grace, who is listening from the landing of the second floor, comes down, still in pajamas, and sits between Nahele and Danny, hugging the other boy.

“I’m sorry about your dad,” she says.

“Thanks,” mumbles Nahele, resting his head on top of Grace’s.

“I’m sorry I eavesdropped, but I wanted to make sure you were ok.” Grace’s still hugging him.

“It’s all right, Gracie. I don’t mind.” Nahele replies. 

“I thought Mrs. Koalakoa came here to take you with her. I was scared.” Grace confesses.

“It seems I’ll be staying here for the long run.” And he sounds happy, but his voice is shaky.

Danny and Steve share a look, what Nahele said is not far fetched from the truth.

Nahele says he doesn’t want to bury his dad besides his mom, but he doesn’t have another choice.

“I have no money and the service in the cemetery where my mom is, is already paid,” Nahele explains.

“Don’t worry about money, that’s not your responsibility. Just tell us what you want to do and we’ll do it.” Danny assures.

“It’ll be ok if they share the space, you know? What bothers me is they sharing a gravestone. Maybe cremate him, putting him in the same lot but…another gravestone?” Nahele suggests.

“That can be arranged.” Confirms Steve.

“That’s a great idea, ‘Hele. Want me to join you to find a gravestone you like?” Asks Grace, taking Nahele’s hand in hers.

“Sure…”

And that’s what they do. Danny makes pancakes for breakfast, Charlie spends all morning curled around Nahele, feeling his older brother is sad but the little boy doesn't want to ask. He and Grace find what they need on the internet and every other detail is arranged by Steve with the help of Mrs. Koalakoa.

Next day the funeral home delivers the ashes of Kaili Huikala in a beautiful urn, there’s no service or priest. Kawika arrives at the cemetery when they’re placing the ashes in the lot, and does a small blessing, asking the great gods to be gentle with this soul, to forgive and give peace, and to leave peace and love in the earth the soul just left. Danny and Charlie are perched to Nahele the whole moment, the older man hugging him with one arm around the shoulder, and the youngest hugging his legs and holding into his hands. Mrs. Koalakoa, Officer Perez and Paulette, Grace’s friend, are also there when they set the gravestone.

Nahele doesn’t say much, but he’s thankful for everyone being there to support him, and his mood perks up when Steve invites Kawika, Mrs. Koalakoa, Officer Perez and Paulette to a barbeque at their house. When they arrive the rest of Five-0 and their families are there. The music changes and a really familiar song starts to play in the speakers they put in the lanai.

Steve snorts. Someone said that coincidences didn’t really exist. And Steve starts to share that thought when Elton John sings the first lyrics of Your Song in their backyard.

“Do you think Nahele has a crush on Gracie’s friend?” Steve asks Danny when they are cooking.

“Yes. Did you see them at Nahele's birthday party? He was completely enchanted. It was cute, he treats her like she’s made of glass,” Danny replies, smiling at his boy, who’s talking with Officer Perez.

Steve smiles for the first time since yesterday. Nahele caughts him looking, and he blushes, but also smiles, raising his cup of soda to him.

There’s a lot they have to discuss yet. The adoption, dealing with Kaili’s mysterious death, see if they should put their older boy with a therapist…but that can wait. For now, Steve lets the feeling of ohana heal everything and enjoys the moment.

They are watching _Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events,_ two weeks after Kaili’s death, when suddenly Charlie pauses the movie, and jumps into Nahele’s lap.

“’Hele! Can that happen to you?! Can someone adopt you?” He asks, worried.

“Technically, yes. Someone can adopt me. But people who want to adopt kids prefer younger children.” Nahele combs Charlie’s hair out of his eyes.

“But you’re not that old.”

Nahele laughs at that.

“You’re right, buddy.”

“Daddy! Can we adopt ‘Hele?” Charlie asks, excited.

“Yeah! I promise not to dress up and steal your money,” says Grace, making the older boy snort.

Steve and Danny share a look.

“If Nahele wants to…we can adopt him,” says Danny, carefully.

“I think it is something we have to speak alone with him, but yeah, son, if you want to be adopted by us. We have already thought about it,” adds Steve.

“Uhm…” Nahele looks at them, surprised.

“You have all the time in the world to think about it.” Danny touches the boy’s knee in comfort. “It’s just an option, and we’ll do whatever you want. We won’t love you less because of that. Ok?”

Nahele nods.

Charlie stays in Nahele’s lap and starts the movie, the older boy hugs him close to him, not concentrating on the movie, but thinking what it would be if they were a family on paper, too.

It’s the next morning, Steve is drying himself while walking towards the lanai after swimming when he notices Nahele sitting in one of the chairs, he’s still in pajamas, but put the Kukui’s athletes team hoodie on top of everything.

Before Steve can even greet him, Nahele stands up and says:

“I want to be adopted.”

Steve just blinks at him for a few seconds, then a huge grin breaks on his face. Nahele smiles back.

“Come here, son.” And Steve hugs him, not caring he’s still wet. Steve is so happy he feels like exploding.

Without thinking too much about it, he decides they need to tell Danny, immediately, so he uses his strength and pushes Nahele over his shoulder, carrying him like a big bag of flour over the lanai, to the house, up the stairs to their bedroom. He opens the door with his feet and drops Nahele in their bed, on top of Danny.

“Steven what the hell?!” Danny yells, arms full of Nahele, who can’t stop giggling. Once the blond man focuses on who’s on top of him his mood changes. “What are you doing here, babe? Missed your bed? Want to sleep with Danno to keep the nightmares away? Care to explain why the Neanderthal animal that’s your other father threw you here?”

“Because I already decided, I want you guys to adopt me,” Nahele says, smiling at Danny.

“Oh…Oh! That’s so good. ‘Hele, c’mere, nop, no, not getting away from my hug. Why are you wet? Steven?”

Steve is too busy taking pictures of Danny hugging Nahele in their bed. The boy is already taller than Danny, but he curls himself around the older man so he can be embraced and petted, it’s so endearing that Steve can’t miss the opportunity.

Grace arrives at their room because of the noise they are making, she stands besides Steve and asks her uncle what is going on, but before Steve can reply Danny is already talking.

“It’s a boy, Gracie! You’re going to have a new brother!”

Grace snorts.

“Yeah…he already told me,” she replies.

“What?!” Both Danny and Steve look at her.

“Yesterday we…talked, in our screen-free time,” answers Nahele.

“You were too busy pretending not to care about his answer and making dopey-lovey eyes at each other to notice we talk, like actual people,” Grace replies, rolling her eyes.

Nahele laughs, but covers his mouth when he sees the betrayed look in Steve and Danny’s face. Grace hugs Steve, and both of them enjoy the show of Danny treating Nahele like a baby. Everything turns ten times better when Charlie arrives and also jumps in the bed with his dad and brother.

Steve takes another picture, just because he can.

“I think you’re my only patient in the reserves that has…such a busy life,” says Dr. Hapai the first time they see each other after five weeks of break.

Steve snorts.

“I’m glad you could find peace during your alone time, and closure with your father. I think we can move in learning to mourn now you feel more comfortable talking about your dad,” she adds.

“That’s great and all doc, but I thought we were almost over?”

Dr. Hapai shakes her head.

“Therapy is no magic, Steve. It takes time, years, some people never stop. Even I go to therapy, “self-care for mental health workers” it’s called, but it's the same thing. And I sit on a really similar sofa to the one you’re sitting on, and talk to a colleague about my own issues and how I deal with my job. I've been doing that since I started working.”

“How long ago?” Steve asks.

“Well…let’s see, med school is seven years, specialization is another five…and counting that I did my internship in the Navy Health Institute and it was mandatory to see a therapist…I’ll say twenty three or twenty two years going to therapy.”

Steve just nods.

“Well… I think this month has been really good to me, despite everything, so I’m not complaining,” Steve comments.

“Good. Is there something you would like to discuss further?” Dr. Hapai asks.

“Sometimes I think I’m not doing enough for Danny,” Steve confesses.

“How so?”

“He gave up his house, gave me a family, he’s adopting Nahele with me…he waited like two years to be with me, for God’s sake, I…sometimes I feel…unworthy of his love.”

“Relationships are, in did, a quid pro quo situation but it’s not immediate, or like a money exchange when you get immediately what you’re buying. You have to understand that this applies to every kind of healthy relationship, not only romantic ones. They are complex, not a single one is the same as the other, and they work at their own rhythm. Patience, support and honesty are, in fact, things you _give_ in a relationship, and for them to be accounted for, to be thanked, they have to be recognized. Did Detective Williams say “thank you” when you were dealing with the lawsuit?”

“Of course he did. It was a pretty rough time for my family.”

Dr. Hapai nods.

“What did he do?”

“Well…he said it? Multiple times, actually. He wrote me a little post-it note and left it on my desk, I still have it. And we might have…engaged in adult themed things where he showed how grateful he was.” Steve blushes. Dr. Hapai didn’t say anything about that.

“So he acknowledged your support and company during a hard time, he knows you’re there. And I think I’m making a good educated guess to say it’s not the only time you’ve been there for him, right?” Steve nods. “Those things count, Steve, they really do. Don’t sell yourself short. They are valuable, important. Those things matter. You’re doing enough. If you weren’t doing enough…I assure you, you wouldn’t have the relationship you described at the beginning of our session.”

“Then why do I feel like this?” Steve tried to sound relaxed, but he almost snapped at the doctor.

“Maybe there’s something you want to do and aren’t doing in regards to Detective Williams.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You have to think about it. That’s your homework for the next two weeks.” Dr. Hapai smiles.

Steve just groans.

He’s been thinking for nearly a week and Steve can’t pinpoint what the hell is the thing he wants to do but is not doing. He looks at Danny until the other man gets mad at him, trying to figure out what he wants. They can’t possibly spend more time together, but Steve makes the effort to be around Danny more, and his partner doesn’t even notice, glad to be closer to Steve more often.

It’s after a shooting when it clicks for Steve.

A sudden spurt of overdose deaths alerted HPD that some new drug must be running on the streets, from an unknown supplier. It didn’t take long to connect it with some Korean new business that opened in the island. Five-0 help was requested, and in two days they were raiding a warehouse where the drug was stored. They thought it'd be a clean arrest, but the men were armed and ready to fight.

Steve is the first to notice that the fire commotion is hiding a guy running to the docks, so he goes after him.

“Steve! Don’t!” Danny screams, but his partner is already running towards the other man.

Danny curses again and runs behind Steve, making sure he has enough ammo to be a good backup. He’s already too far away from them, but he has a perfect view of the Korean drug dealer hiding behind some containers, trying to climb them.

“Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t…” Danny’s chanting, but is already too late, because Steve is running after the other guy jumping on top of the containers.

Grunting, he goes to the Camaro, and drives back to the part of the port where they entered the warehouse. He drives to the containers, just in time to have a front view of their runner. He doesn’t have a clean shot of him until Steve tackles him off the roof of the container to the ground. Danny sees as his partner rolls over, so he doesn’t break his legs, and immobilizes the runner. But the other man is fast, because he does a sit-up and hits Steve in the head with his own forehead, pushing him to the side.

“Good enough.” Mumbles Danny when Steve is out of the way and he can shoot the runner, getting three clean shots to his shoulder and clavicle.

“You, don’t move, or I’ll shoot you again where it doesn’t hurt but it kills.” He warns, getting closer to them. He cuffs the man quickly and turns him into his back so he doesn’t bleed that much.

Danny helps Steve stand up, grimacing at the ugly bump and scar the headbutt left in his forehead.

“I told you not to do that! What’s the matter with you, huh?! Do you go insane if you don’t jump over cliffs or shit like that every other week? They just took your cast out two weeks ago!”

“I’m fine.” Steve says, enchanted by the scene of a furious Danny. Maybe his head hurt a little bit and his arm was really sore but he was fine. Nothing life-threatening.

“You have to ask for back up, Steven, you could have avoided all this!”

“I have you, don’t I?”

“That’s not the fucking point. And you’re not avoiding going to the ambulance.”

“Okay, Danno.”

“Don’t “Danno” me, you’re in the doghouse.”

“Okay, baby?” Steve tries.

“You’re so lucky I’m with you because of your personality and not your looks, babe.” Danny sighs.

Steve pulls out his phone to call Kono, asking her to bring an ambulance because their perp is injured. Danny takes the phone out of his hand and tells her that Steve is hurt, too. Steve grunts at him, and Danny just hugs his waist, kissing his cheek. Steve has a flashback of the first kiss Danny gave him all those months ago in a crime scene, feeling giddy. He turns and grabs Danny’s face with his uninjured arm and kisses him on the lips, short and sweet.

“Don’t think you’re out of trouble,” mumbles Danny, pecking him again.

“Awww, that’s so cute!” Their perp says. “How long have you two been married?”.

Danny retorts something in between the lines of new bullet holes, but Steve is not paying attention.

Because it clicks.

That’s it.

He wants to marry Danny.

So he starts to plan everything he needs. And that requires talking with Kono.

“Hey, Kono, have a minute?” Steve asks the next day, walking into Kono’s office.

“Sure, boss, what’s up? How’s the face?”

“Good, good, just a little bruise, ” he lies.

Grace helped him cover it with foundation in the morning, not enough to make it disappear but enough to make it less purple. Just enough to make Danny worry about something else than his supposed concussion. The EMTs said he’ll be fine the next day, but Danny worries too much. It felt good, though, being pampered by Danny.

“Sure, next time tell Gracie to put some primer on otherwise you’ll break the make up with your sweat.” She smirks at him. “Anyway, what do you need?”

“I need to find a restaurant that serves good Jersey or New York food, not Frank’s down at Bishop’s. But a really good one.”

Kono's smile is dangerous, Steve feels like she’s scrutinizing his soul.

“Fine, one condition, though.”

“What?”

“I want to be maid of honor.”

Steve doesn’t even want to know how she finds out so quickly. He just agrees. Kono says she’ll text him at the end of the day.

So far, so good.

That same day, when he’s sure Danny is bathing Charlie, and Nahele and Grace are doing their homework, Steve goes to talk with them. He makes sure the doors are closed and the blinds are down, so the minimum amount of sound leaves the room.

“I need to know your dad’s ring size,” Steve tells Grace.

Steve sees how she opens her mouth, ready to yell in excitement, when Nahele covers her mouth quickly and shushes her.

“It’s a surprise!” Steve hisses.

“Sorry, Uncle Steve, oh my God!” She whispers, jumping on her seat. “Did you hear ‘Hele? Oh my God!”

“Are you going to propose?” Asks Nahele, also whispering.

“That’s the idea, but I can’t do it without a ring,” explains Steve.

“Didn’t your mom…” Starts to say Nahele, but Grace interrupts him.

“Yeah, you’re right. Good thinking, big bro.” Nahele smiles, pleased.

Steve blinks, lost.

“What are you two talking about?” Asks Steve, looking at his watch to check if they still have time to talk safely.

“My mom still has their old wedding rings, she said she was saving them to melt them and make a necklace or something for me when I was older.” Grace smiles at him, excited.

“Mhmm…what do you say, son?” Says Steve, putting his phone in front of Grace. “Do you think Gracie’s done with her homework?”

“Yeah, sure,” the boy replies, understanding what Steve wants to do.

Grace picks the phone up, and leaves the reading room. Fifteen minutes later she goes find Steve in the kitchen, who’s showing Danny how to defrost a twice baked potato.

“Uncle Steve, thirteen…” She says but cuts herself when she sees her dad. “Uh…thirteen dollars is the minimum amount of money I have to earn selling cookies.” Grace returns Steve his phone.

“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll buy…enough.” Steve winks at her, letting her know he understood.

“Yeah, Monkey,” Danny assures her. “He always buys you like a hundred dollars, so don’t worry. I didn’t know it was that time of the year…aren’t you a little early?” He asks suspiciously.

“It is early,” she agrees, slowly getting out of the kitchen. “Uncle Steve wanted to know, and I googled it for him, that’s all.”

“On his phone?” Danny asks again.

Steve curses the detective in his mind.

“He wanted to save the info, and my phone is upstairs, charging.”

“You’re so lazy sometimes.” Danny says, turning to him. “Maybe you should save some energy, not swim to the mainland and back every morning, and then you’ll be able to google your own damn stuff instead of using my little girl.”

Grace takes that as her que to leave, fast.

“She likes to help me. Unlike her father, she’s a nice young lady.”

“Oh, oh. I’m not a nice enough lady to you? That’s it?”

“No. You’re my perfect Danno.”

“Chivalry won’t take you anywhere with me, McGarrett.” Danny says, but doesn’t regret Steve's kiss.

Restaurant ready, ring size acquired, now he has to buy it and that’s it.

The hardest part is not making the arrangements, it’s keeping them from Danny.

Thankfully, having Kono on it makes it easy, because she asks Danny to accompany her to talk with the guys at the lab about some results, which gives Steve enough time to go to the jewelry place Kono recommended. He’s not surprised to find that the owner of the store is a Kelly, but he is glad when the man tells him that any ring he chooses will be ready on the same day.

Now…finding the right one.

“Kono, I need you to cover for me.” Steve goes outside the store to call her, after twenty minutes of looking.

“Still can’t decide?”

“There’s so many!”

She laughs at him but agrees to cover for him. Steve checks his messages and sees that there’s an unread message from Rachel. Frowning, he opens the conversation and sees that Grace and Rachel texted. The older woman sent her an image of the ring, plus another picture of a ruler on top of it.

_> Rachel: I hope this is useful._

_< Me: Yes, mum, thx._

_> Rachel: You’re welcome, honey._

Steve looks at the ring in the picture: it’s a simple golden band, no engraving, no designs, but thick and sturdy. At least now he has an idea of what Danny likes. But he doesn’t want to remind Danny of his old ring, and per reflex, his failed marriage.

“Shit,” mumbles Steve, going back inside the store.

“Perhaps I can help you, Commander?” Asks the jeweler. “What are you looking for?”

“Well…you know we’re in law enforcement, so something that won’t break easily, or scratch easily. But nothing that’s impossible to take out during an accident . Something simple, but with style. You know?”

The other man smiles.

“This is tungsten.” The other man shows him a ring in the middle of the row Steve’s eyeing. “It’s treated specially so it resists intense manual labor, and these diagonal marks are made from crystalized lava from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone. Our goldsmith takes all these natural pieces from here or the other islands. Except for the tungsten, we import it from New Jersey.”

Steve blinks.

“Come again?”

“The crystalized stone is 100% Hawaiian, but the tungsten is from the mainland, from a New Jersey provider. Why?”

Steve looks at the ring again. It’s aged, making it almost black, and the crystalized black lava makes it shine against the light. It’s simple but also elegant, really pretty. Unique. A mix of Hawaii and Jersey. Just what Steve wants.

“I need a size thirteen, please.”

Kono’s cousin smiles at him, with a smirk he’s really familiar with. Steve just smiles back. He already has the ring.

Danny notices that Steve is not in the office when he comes back, but Steve has problems staying still so he’s probably in the palace somewhere. He is suspicious of him until Steve comes back and they have to work, and Danny gets so focused trying to link the information he has on his hands with some others from cold cases that he loses sense of time. When he gets back to reality he checks the time and is almost four.

Steve had already left for therapy, he texted him instead of coming to his office to say goodbye. Danny doesn’t dwell on it, maybe he was running late and didn’t want to risk going to kiss Danny goodbye. They do have a record of making each other late because they can’t stop kissing and touching.

On his way to pick up Grace, Nahele talks about an incoming tournament, saying he’s nervous because the coach wants to put him like the head of the freshmen and he’s not ready. Danny listens to him and encourages him, saying that he’ll even drive him to the location, that he doesn’t have to ride the bus with the rest of the team. But Nahele replies that he likes his friends from the team, _that’s not the problem, Danno_.

He feels a rush of love towards the boy when he calls him Danno so easily.

“Don’t worry, son.” He smiles at him. “You’ll do awesome. And I will even buy you that forsaken pineapple pizza, no matter if you win or lose.”

Nahele’s smile is so blinding that Danny feels like he did a good job helping him out.

“I’m going to try,” Nahele says, just as Grace climbs into the back seat.

“Paulette broke his leg!” She says, after kissing Danny and Nahele on the cheek.

“What?!” Both men exclaim at the same time, but Nahele looks way more worried.

“Is she ok? What happened?” Nahele asks quickly.

Danny can’t help but smirk as he drives to pick up Charlie. Not about poor Paulette’s accident, but about Nahele’s obvious crush.

“She is. She fell during a bad spin, she passed out, though, and we got really scared. But she already texted me. She’s awake, in her house, with a cast on half of her leg. A clean break, she’ll be fine in six weeks. No need to get surgery.”

“Jesus. Poor kid,” says Danny.

“We can go visit her, right?” Grace asks, making puppy eyes at Danny throw the rearview mirror.

“Tell you what, finish your homework quickly, and I’ll drop you off,” Danny offers.

“No!” Both Grace and Nahele yell.

“I mean, we can go tomorrow, on friday. Right, ‘Hele?” Grace says, clenching her hand around Nahele’s shoulder.

“Yeahs. She must be tired. It might be rude to just drop by,” adds Nahele.

“You’re right. Totally. I’ll text her and I’ll tell you. Thanks, Danno.”

Danny just shrugs. These kids are spending too much together, talking at the same time and all that.

Charlie doesn’t want to leave Joanie, they hug and cry like the world is ending, but Grace takes Charlie into her arms and whispers something in her ear. The boy is still sad but agrees to leave, hugging Joanie close and promising to come back tomorrow and that he’ll send her a goodnight message to her mom’s phone.

After that the drive home is peaceful, Charlie talks about his day at the daycare and what he did with Joanie. He tells them about a magic trick he saw with a paper and a glass full of water, but that it wasn’t really a trick but something called Physics. Charlie declares vehemently he wants to learn that kind of magic.

When they arrive home the Silverado is parked and Danny is already on alert. Steve’s supposed to be in therapy, groaning and replying to Dr. Hapai’s questions, sharing too much information and purging whatever he needs to purge. When they get into the house Steve is sipping from his water bottle and watching sportscenter.

Nahele takes Charlie in his arms and with Grace the three of them disappear quickly upstairs.

“Did something happen? Are you alright? Why aren’t you at your session? Steven?” Danny asked while quickly getting close to Steve.

“Nothing happened. I’m all right. I rescheduled my session. And yes, Steven is the name my parents gave me. Any other questions, baby?”

“Don’t. Don’t be a smartass.” Steve has his ‘I’m about to blow a grenade and I’m loving every second of it’ face so Danny is more than a little bit worried. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Did you get another tattoo?”

“No. I swear.”

“Then what is going on?!”

Steve laughs at him, and Danny’s frown just gets deeper.

“You need to relax, Danny. I just wanted to take you and the kids to a nice dinner. Yesterday was payday. I think we can splurge a little bit and go somewhere nice as a family. Fridays are chaotic for us with the kids’ schedule so I thought that…today was a good day. I shortened my session so we could have dinner at a decent time. That’s all.”

“Jesus, babe. Next time you want to do something nice try not to give me a heart attack.” Danny kisses his cheek and stands up. “If we’re going out, I’m showering.”

“Go ahead. We have reservations at seven.”

“Oh la lá, reservations. I better shave again,” Danny jokes, and goes upstairs.

“Dress casual, Danny, it’s not that really fancy,” Steve says.

The name of the restaurant makes Danny laugh, “Heaven’s kitchen”. They have a reservation for five under McGarrett-Williams and their host takes them to a quiet part of the restaurant where other couples, families and business parties are having nice meals. Danny is delighted when he sees the menu and finds New Jersey’s style dishes, and he’s so excited about a special kind of chocolate dessert he kisses Steve soundly in the cheek.

They eat, talk and laugh, everyone is having a good time, and Steve puts in practice every technique he knows to not freak out and panic. The kids behave, even if Grace and Nahele send him curious glances from time to time. When Steve watches amused as Danny has half his face covered in chocolate from the cake he’s not eating but devouring, he knows it’s the right moment. Because he sees this man, _his_ man, with chocolate cake all over his face and the only thing he can feel is a love so strong he might pass out.

He passes a napkin to Danny, who thanks him and starts to clean up his face. Steve stands up and goes to Danny’s other side.

“Steve?” Danny asks when he turns and can’t find him.

“Right here, Danno.” He says, from the other side of the table.

Danny looks at him and drops the napkin he was holding when he sees Steve on one knee in front of him, and the ring box open, showing the beautiful ring.

“Daniel Williams. Danny. Danno… Will you do me the honor of being my husband?”

Danny smirks. Danny _fucking_ smirks knowingly at him.

“Yes, babe, of course I’ll be your husband.” Danny replies, smiling lovingly and grabbing his face to kiss him.

Steve doesn’t know when they stand up, or when he hugs the other man close to his body. He vaguely hears people clapping, and Charlie cheering, but he can’t take his eyes away from Danny when he slips the ring into his right hand. Steve kisses his hand, every knuckle, over the little cross tattoo, and the place where the ring rests snugly in a perfect fit.

Steve looks at him with so much love and devotion that Danny can help but kiss him again, loving the feel of Steve’s face against his hand with the ring on it. He smiles at his partner, entranced by the beauty of Steve’s eyes.

“You knew I wanted to propose this whole time, didn’t you?” Asks Steve, still close to him. The people at the restaurant are still clapping and Grace is recording everything.

“Of course I did, babe.” Danny smirks, pecking him again. “I didn’t know when you were going to actually pop the question. I admit that you proposing the same day you bought the ring threw my calculations off. When I saw you were home early I thought you maybe will do it today, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know Chin’s cousin made the ring so fast. And then when you said to dress casual I genuinely thought it was just a nice dinner out.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I loved every second of you planning this. It made me feel…special, like I was worth all this effort from you. From doing all the arrangements to trying to keep it a secret. And I really want to marry you…win-win.”

Steve just smiles at him. Crazy in love for the man in front of him who just promised to be with him the rest of their lives. God, Steve feels so lucky. And when Danny looks back at him he can see the love, loyalty and softness that makes those beautiful blue eyes shine.

They sit at the table again, still holding hands. Charlie is the first one to hug Danny, talking about how excited he’s about the wedding, about the food, about the tux Danny is going to wear, about the flowers, and the _huge cake, Danno, there’s no wedding without a giant cake!_ Grace jumps to hug Steve, congratulating him in making everything work.

“Not without your help, Gracie. You made it possible. So thank _you_.” Steve smiles and kisses her cheek. She returns the kiss and hugs him tighter.

Nahele is in photography duty until Grace releases him and it is the boy’s turn to hug Steve.

“After we get married, your adoption papers will fly. Just you wait,” Steve says, hugging him close.

“That’s ok. This night is about you guys, don’t think about that.”

“No, ‘Hele-” Steve starts to say but Danny interrupts him.

“No, no. This is about us, Nahele. We’re a family. Don’t try to back out now. It’s too late!”

“Yeah, brother, too late,” repeats Charlie, and Nahele breaks the hug to go to Danny and hug him too, with Charlie in the middle.

There’s a long and nicely focused video about the proposal, it seems like Danny missed Steve’s signal because the video shows from the moment Danny is cleaning the chocolate off his face to when they go back to the table holding hands. There’s also a million pictures of them, of the hugs, close ups of the ring.

They are finishing dessert, Steve and Danny still holding hands, going through the pictures Grace sends them when a soft melody starts to play in the background.

“Do you know that song?” Grace asks Nahele, and Steve smirks.

“It’s from Elton John, that’s all I know,” Nahele replies.

He holds Danny’s hand tighter, enjoying the feeling of the ring in between his fingers with _Your Song_ intoning one of the best moments of his life.

For the duration of the night they can’t stop touching, holding hands under or over the table, even when driving back home, there’s always a point of contact in between the two of them. Charlie is really excited, he said that keeping the secret was really hard.

“But I failed, Gracie, don’t be mad,” Charlie says once they’re back home.

“Why, Charlie?” She asks her brother.

“It was supposed to be a secret. _Shhh_. But I told Joanie! I couldn’t help it, Gracie, it was too hard!” He whines, making puppy eyes at his big sister.

“It’s all right, the important thing was not telling dad,” says Nahele, and Grace agrees with him.

“Uff…thank God,” the little boy exclaims and it sounds so funny that everyone laughs.

Putting Charlie to bed is difficult, he is too excited to go to sleep, but they have school the next day so he has to be up early. Danny and Steve read him two stories until the boy settles down enough, and Nahele promises to stay with him to make sure he falls asleep. The older boy snuggles close to Charlie, chatting idly on his phone, as the little boy curls around him, finally falling asleep completely.

When it is their turn to go to bed, Steve can’t stop looking at the pictures, zooming into their faces, enjoying their happiness. He even changes his Facebook profile picture to the one where he’s kissing Danny’s ring finger.

When Danny gets into bed, Steve spoons him, hugging him closer, breathing happily in Danny’s scent.

“I never thought I would be able to have…this. You, a house that doesn’t make me think about all of my past traumas, children, love…I thought, for so long, that I’ll die in combat. Thinking that my life was just with the Navy, that there was no life outside of it. But…look at us.”

“Damn straight, babe. Life is just beginning. So buckle up.”

Steve smiles, thanking whoever is listening to him out there, for this.

It’s quite a beautiful day. Danny doesn’t like to admit it, and he’ll never do it in front of Steve, but sometimes the ocean looks so calm, but alive at the same time, that Danny can’t help but look at it...at _her_ , like Kono or Chin insist. And now, sitting in his big beach towel in front of the ocean he can understand, a little bit, why Hawaiians like to compare this beautifulness with the appearance of a holy and gentle woman. He’s supposed to wait here, as far away from the house as possible, per his lawyer request and his instincts to avoid things that could give him an unnecessary headache.

Yes, at this point of his life working and loving Steve at the same time is a necessary headache. It will be worse to be apart from the man. And Danny loves him too much to leave him alone in his crazy antics. They are the perfect partners, after all, inside and outside of the job. It’s saturday, and just yesterday Steve got shot three times at his vest and one bullet went across his armpit and he had to get stitches in there. Danny laughed when the EMRs shaved him, but held his hand anyway and made Steve promise him to never, ever, make a stunt like the ones in the past where he leaves the bulletproof vest behind.

Danny also got used to the sound of waves, the constant crashing now is as necessary as the stress that his partner gives him. He doesn’t like it, but he can’t live without it. Both the sound and Steve.

The day after the proposal, when the kids were at Paulette’s house, visiting the poor girl who broke her leg, and after buying a big teddy bear for her, Danny asked Steve:

“Why did you want to marry me?”

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“I think it’s a little late to complain about it, Danny.”

“I’m not complaining, babe.”

“Well, that’s a first.”

“Don’t be a smartass and answer my question, please. Hopefully before arriving at Lou's, where I’m going to happily announce our engagement, so please.”

Steve was silent a long while, but he had his thinking face, so Danny let him think until he talked again.

“Dr. Hapai said I had to find what was the thing I wanted to do with you that was making me feel like I wasn’t doing enough for our relationship. It took me a while but I finally realized I wanted to marry you. That I wanted you to be my husband so bad. I know it’s cliché and that you already have experience in the matter but…” Steve paused, looking at Danny nervously.

“Go on, babe. I want to know,” Danny assured him.

“I learned that it’s alright to be who I am. And part of me will never stop being a Navy man, who likes to receive orders from superiors and give orders to the ones I have in charge. I like the unwritten protocols, and the loyalty between brothers in arms, and all the traditions. And that doesn’t make me less me. It doesn’t make me less Steve. It’s part of who I am, and I’m proud of it. As proud as I’m about being from this island, proud of loving you and our family. Part of me wanted to make an honest man out of you. And I know it sounds stupid...but, my old fashioned Navy brain wanted to put a ring on your finger, to make it official. To have the paperwork that ensures we’re together until our love lasts and beyond. And I realised it’s ok to feel that way. So I asked you…”

“And I said yes, didn’t I?”

“That you did, baby.”

They had that conversation before arriving at the Grovers to have a meeting with their ohana, and Danny still remembers the reaction of all the members of Five-0 when they told them the news. He can’t believe they had a bet on it, but he’s glad that Kono lost it, Jerry deserved the money.

Now, Danny is looking at the ocean, captivated by her charms, letting his memory go back to all the good places that make him feel warm and cozy.

Or he’s trying to do it until a cold feeling breaks his concentration.

Steve is besides him, handing him a cold glass of mango juice. They are trying to cut off the alcohol intake. Grace is worried about them, about the amount of beers they have per week, taking in consideration their livers and the impact on their bodies.

“Thanks,” mumbles Danny, drinking from the glass immediately. Enjoying the cold feeling of the juice.

“You’re welcome.” Steve sits besides him in the towel, wrapping his left hand around Danny’s shoulders. “Hey…”

“Hmnh?”

“I think you should talk with Rachel.”

Today it’s Rachel’s turn to have the kids for the weekend. She picks them up at their house, Steve updates her on anything they hadn’t shared over the week via text messages, and makes sure the kids have everything until monday morning, when they pick Grace and Charlie up from Rachel’s new place. Sometimes Nahele tags along, Rachel likes him and he likes spending time with his siblings. Danny is glad all of his children are in a better place.

But Danny and Rachel haven’t talked or seen eachother since the hearing all those months ago. They text sometimes, about the kids, about arrangements, but that’s it. Usually Steve is the one to talk more directly with her, Danny took his lawyers advice and stayed away from her whenever she came along. Sometimes that bothers him, the fact that he can’t even be in the same room with the mother of his children, with a woman who was his wife, someone he loved with all his heart at some point of his life.

“Why?” Danny asks simply.

“Well...She said she wanted to.” Steve shrugs.

“Really?”

“Yeah, said she wanted to tell you something. That it won’t take long. I think it’s time for you to maybe give it a change. But...at your own rhythm, I don’t want to do an intervention kind of thing.”

Both of them laugh at that.

Danny thinks about it, he isn’t sure. But sometimes not being sure isn’t reason enough not to do something.

“I think you’re right, babe. Let’s go.”

Steve helps Danny stand up, his knee still acted up sometimes, even more after rough cases like the one they had last week. He drinks the rest of his juice and kisses Steve in thanks when he takes it and goes to the kitchen. Danny doesn't need to taste Steve’s lips to get confirmation that the other man was drinking pineapple juice. He can hear the kids getting their things done upstairs, talking to each other and opening and closing doors, Rachel sitting carefully on the individual sofa.

“Hello, Danny,” Rachel greets him, standing up.

“Hey. What’s the plan for the weekend?” Danny says, trying to shake the weirdness off.

“Nothing much. Some swimming and making biscuits. Nahele said he’ll come over tomorrow for dinner but he’s not spending the night. Charlie is quite sad about it, it’s lovely to see how much he loves Nahele. I think Grace will be pouting too if she didn’t have the option to text him all the time.”

Danny smiles genuinely. Proud of his children and their honest love and care between each other.

“Yeah, they’re used to being close all the time.”

“It seems like it. Look Danny...I really want to tell you something and I don’t want to keep evading it. So thank you for listening to me.”

Danny just nods, gesturing with his hand at Rachel to signal she can keep talking.

“I just...I just wanted to say that I’m terribly sorry about everything that happened, Danny. I want you to know that I will never hurt you on purpose. But I realized I was out of control...and that the lack of control made me do things that I would never really do. I know...God Danny...it took everything from me to make me learn about my mistakes. My marriage, my kids, my house, it almost cost me my job. I don’t know how I managed to keep that one. But I’ll give it up in a second if it meant to reverse time and...not letting things get that far. I’m sorry, Danny. I’m so, so, so deeply sorry, and I want you to know that.”

Danny sighes. Part of him doesn’t want to listen to her anymore. But...another part is glad to be listening to an apology. He realises, surprised, he wants one from Rachel.

“I have...I have never hurt so deep in my life when we got divorced, when you left me. Or at least that’s what I thought. Then you moved my little girl here...and I thought not only did you hurt me but now I had all the reasons in the world to hate you. But you managed to open and deepen the same old wound when you decided to keep Charlie from me. I have never been hurt more. This...the accident, I’m pissed it happened, but I think I need you to realize I need apologies for the other stuff that hurt more than the glass. I…”

Danny looks at his right hand, feeling the weight of the ring in his finger, and the weight of its meaning on his heart and soul.

“But I don’t want to be hurt by the past anymore. I can’t forget about it, or lie and tell you I won’t be waiting for an apology for that. But I’m done leading my life around it. I’m in a place in my life where I want good things for the future and a clean slate for my present. And I have that. And part of the reason is because you and I had two amazing children, and you’ll be part of my life forever. So...I forgive you about the accident, it’s all right. But...Not the other stuff.”

“Thank you.” Rachel smiles at him, cheeks wet and eyes full of tears. “I’m working on it. And I hope you have a wonderful life with the Commander, you deserve it.”

Sometimes you don’t get the apology you want, or the one you need. But Danny thinks that, sometimes, if you get one that’s close enough to something that makes you feel better... it’s also good.

The noise of Charlie going down the stairs breaks the moment, and he launches himself at his mother, talking a thousand words per second, moving his little hands up and down. Rachel and Danny share a look over Charlie’s shoulder.

_Yeah, we’re going to be fine_ , Danny thinks as he feels Steve hugging him from behind, watching as Grace joins them with her own backpack, talking with Nahele who’s not far behind, still going down the stairs.

Steve doesn’t ask questions about what happened, and Danny is pretty sure Steve hid in the kitchen, listening to everything. He doesn’t mind, he doesn’t have secrets with his fiancé.

They are watching Die Hard for the umpteenth time, cuddling up on the couch when Steve receives a call from the Governor. Suddenly, on the TV there’s a commercial with a certain song that makes Danny pay attention. When Steve comes back his face tells him everything: they have a case.

“Well...there goes our romantic weekend. No rest for us.”

Danny can’t help but laugh a little bit. If Steve had stayed he’ll have listened to the song, and groaned, probably.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a little bit funny…” Danny starts to say.

“What is it?” Steve looks at him.

“This feeling inside.” Danny starts to sing, purposefully out of tune.

“Danny. We have to send Nahele to Mary’s.”

“I’m not one of those who can easily hide.” Danny keeps singing.

“Danny for God’s sake.” Steve groans.

“Don’t have much money, but, boy, if I did…”

Steve is already on his way to find Nahele and tell him about the new case.

“I’ll buy us time away from those pricks.” Danny just keeps going.

“That’s not even how the lyrics go!” Steve complains.

“And you can tell everybody this is your song! It might be quite simple but...now that is done…” Danny perches himself at the end of the stairs, still singing. “I hope you don’t mind...I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, baby, I really do mind. Stop!”

Danny goes up the stairs quickly, pushing Steve against the wall, making sure the door of their eldest bedroom is still closed.

“That I put down in words...how wonderful life is while you’re in the world…” And Danny kisses him.

Steve snorts, and kisses him back.

“Let’s go partner. We have work to do.”

Danny goes to pick up their guns and badges, and Steve finally knocks on Nahele’s door to tell him they have to leave immediately, so if he wouldn’t care to go to Mary’s for the night. Danny is still singing the song while Steve helps ‘Hele make an overnight bag.

And, this time, Steve doesn’t mind that everywhere he goes, he keeps hearing that goddamn Elton John song.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> You can consider this work to be “finished”. There’s a bunch of things that are purposely left “in the air” because I’m planning on adding some more parts. Especially to deal with Nahele’s adoption, Grace and Charlie’s relationship with Rachel, Steve’s mental health situation, Danny’s recovery and his side of his relationship with Steve, the wedding, and a lot of other stuff, and maybe some explicit sexy times, (and maybe another baby, maaaybe, tell me what you think!). But I don’t know when I’ll post them. While working on this big bang I have an unfinished McDanno story, and I wish to work on that before embarking on the next parts of this story.


End file.
